(DCist would like to welcome our new college basketball correspondent Hayden Alfano)
Maryland’s men’s basketball team used a full-court press defense to force 22 Minnesota turnovers, pulling away in the second half for an 83-66 victory over the Golden Gophers last night as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Travis Garrison paced the Terrapins with 18 points, becoming the fourth player to lead the team in scoring in the first six games.
Regardless of the final score, it was hardly an impressive win for the Terps. Offensively, at least in the first 20 minutes, Maryland’s play was a continuation on a theme from last year: difficulty scoring in the half court. They went seven minutes without a field goal in the first half, falling behind by 15 points before a late first-half rally cut the lead to six. An 18-2 run to start the second half (during which Minnesota coach Dan Monson was ejected) was sparked by the press, and contained a number of uncontested layups.
With six players averaging double figures, the team’s scoring has been balanced thus far. However, the Terps still don’t have a reliable scorer inside. They’ve been getting the ball to Garrison more down low, but he looks downright uncomfortable with his back to the basket. Ekene Ibekwe is more effective facing the basket, and he and James Gist still do the majority of their damage in transition and on the offensive glass. At 7-1, Will Bowers’ only noticeable talent is that he’s tall. A bright spot is point guard D.J. Strawberry. Fully recovered from the torn ACL that limited him to 14 games last year, he’s been more than capable replacing John Gilchrist at lead guard, averaging five assists a game while maintaining a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Terps (No. 20 ESPN/USAToday, No. 23 AP) are now 5-1 on the season. Their lone blemish was an 88-76 defeat to Gonzaga (a top-ten team and national championship contender) in their first game of the prestigious Maui Invitational. Maryland went on to beat Arkansas and Division II Chaminade in Hawaii, and the trip to the Pacific was sandwiched by victories over Fairleigh-Dickinson and Nicholls St. Their next game is Dec. 5, when they come into the city to face George Washington (No. 23 ESPN/USAToday, No. 19 AP), who remained undefeated with a 85-68 win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Wednesday.
