Tech drops road contest at Maryland

Maryland guard Sean Mosley scored 18 points while ACC scoring leader Terrell Stoglin chipped in 14 as the 12-4 Maryland Terrapins downed the 8-9 Jackets 61-50 in College Park, Md. The win over the Jackets was the Terrapins’ second conference win, giving them a 2-1 start while dropping the Jackets to 1-2 in the conference.

Mosley scored 16 of his points in the second half, closing out a bad shooting game for both teams. The Jackets lost for the eleventh straight time during the regular season against the Terps.

Tech set the tone early on defense but was unable to produce anything offensively. The Jackets blocked nine shots—including four players with two each—and held Maryland to only 33.3 percent from the floor in the game. The Jackets did not allow Maryland and easy shots as the Terrapins made more free throws than field goals during the first half.

However, the Jackets could not capitalize on the strong defense, as they shot only 33.9 percent from the floor including a 17.6 percent mark from beyond the arc.  Tech’s 19 first half points were the fewest points they have scored in a half all season.

“I think you saw kind of a preview of what Maryland and Tech games are going to be like in the future. Mark and I come from a lot of the same school of thought in terms of defense, rebounding, and so forth. It’s hard to score out there. I think we played with a pretty good effort, pretty good intensity, and did a halfway decent job with some stuff,” said Head Coach Brian Gregory, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com

Both teams struggled early, with the Jackets and the Terrapins going back and forth through the first 15 minutes of the game. With 5:19 left in the first half, Maryland Freshman Guard Nick Faust hit a layup to put the Terrapins up 18-17. After a responding basket by sophomore forward Nate Hicks, Maryland went on a 7-0 run to go into the half up 25-19.

“Offensively our shot wasn’t falling and in the first half our defense kept us in the game. That was pretty much it. You’re going to have games like that where offensively your shots might not fall, but at the end of the day you’ve still got to play tough and defend and rebound,” said junior guard Mfon Udofia, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com

Despite a strong defensive showing through the first half, the Jackets struggled early in the second half defending from the perimeter. Maryland hit four of their first six shot attempts, including going three of four from beyond the arc. With 16:35 left in the game, Maryland’s Pe’Shon Howard hit a jumped to put the Terrapins up 36-26 before both teams could not land a shot for the next 3:02 of the game.

The Jackets could not put together a string of offensive plays to get themselves back into the game, as they could only came within four points with 3:08 left. Maryland capitalized and closed the game out on a 7-0 run and eventually earn the win, 61-50.

“We felt like that game was ours. We just gave it up. We played hard in spurts, but we didn’t play hard for 40 minutes,” said sophomore forward Kammeon Holsey, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com

Holsey was the only Tech player in double figures, scoring 11 along with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. However, it was his counterpart on Maryland’s squad forward James Padgett who controlled the paint. Padgett scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, including seven offensive boards. His play on the offensive glass allowed the Terps to generate offense despite poor shooting.

Tech also found itself on the wrong end of a lopsided free throw statistic, going to the line only 11 times, compared to Maryland’s 21 attempts, 19 of which were converted. It was a tough night for the Jackets’ junior guard Glen Rice Jr., who only made two of his eight attempted shots, finishing with 6 points for the game.

Sophomore guard Jason Morris also struggled from the floor, making only three of his ten attempts in the game. Morris and sophomore center Daniel Miller both finished the game with eight points. Tech attempted a spirited comeback, but could not land any shots through the last three minutes, clinching the victory for the Terrapins.

Faust was a vital spark off the bench, playing 25 minutes and converting three well-timed steals into layups that helped changed the momentum of the game. Faust’s spark was especially notable with a key steal at the end of the first half to put the Terps up by five.

The Jackets will try to reverse their fortunes at Philips arena on Tuesday, Jan. 24 against the Miami Hurricanes.

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