At Miami, Maryland seeks first true road win under Turgeon
In a season of incremental steps to improvement, the Maryland basketball team tries to take another Wednesday night at Miami. The Terrapins (13-7, 3-3) have yet to capture a true road win under Mark Turgeon.
“Is that a big step? Yeah, it probably is,” Turgeon said. “A road win, to beat a team on paper we’re really not supposed to beat, yeah, that’s our next step.”
Miami (12-7, 3-3) will be their best chance to date. The atmosphere at BankUnited Center in Coral Gables is hardly intimidating. The Hurricanes rank last in the ACC in attendance (3,708 per game). Still, since Miami joined the ACC in 2003-04, Maryland has never won in five trips to South Florida.
“That’s one of our concerns – being a tougher team on the road,” sophomore guard Pe’Shon Howard said. “You have to try and get more mentally tough. That’s one of the challenges for us that coach always says.”
The Terps have not been humiliated on the road. They were competitive until the final minutes at North Carolina State (79-74), Florida State (84-70), and Temple (73-60). But there have been common threads.
In all three losses, they were out-rebounded and committed more turnovers than their opponents. The Terps surrendered at least 47.5 field goal percent shooting in each of the losses. At the free throw line, Maryland hit a combined 42 of 69 shots (60.9 percent) while their foes made 51 of 60 (85 percent).
Turgeon has often repeated his formula for success on the road – defense and rebounding. But the Terps have not complied, especially in the frontcourt. Junior James Padgett (75 minutes, 14 rebounds) and freshman Ashton Pankey (54 minutes, five rebounds) have rebounded at a much lower rate on the road than they have at home.
Sophomore Terrell Stoglin has played well on the road, averaging 24.0 points and hitting a combined 22 of 46 shots (47.8 percent), including 13 of 29 (44.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
But Stoglin hasn’t received enough help from backcourt mates Sean Mosley (94 minutes, 18 points), Nick Faust (62 minutes, 19 points), and Howard (96 minutes, 24 points). The trio has combined to hit 20 of 64 shots (31.3 percent), including four of 22 (18.2 percent) from the arc.
Mosley, a 6-4 senior, says the key to improvement on offense is defense.
“If we get stops on defense and get easy buckets in transition, it leads to several points for us,” Mosley said. “Once we get going, getting stops, and all guys are getting touches, it’s definitely a plus for us to get everybody involved.”
Miami has had no such trouble on the road, winning its last two games, both on the road, at Georgia Tech and Boston College.
Guards Malcolm Grant (13.2 ppg) and Durand Scott (12.6 ppg) are the top threats. Juniors Kenny Kadji (12.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Reggie Johnson (10.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) form an imposing duo at 6-11, 250 and 6-10, 285. Freshman Shane Larkin, son of baseball great Barry Larkin, has started the last two games at point guard.
“[Stoglin] will be a major concern for us – a tremendous scorer, an attack guy from start to finish,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “It’s gonna take a team effort.”
Maryland at Miami
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: BankUnited Center, Coral Gables, Fla.
TV: My20
Radio: 980 AM
