Bowie, Stoglin handle ball better in blowout
After his team won two games in uncharacteristically sloppy fashion last week in the 2K Sports Classic, Maryland coach Gary Williams said he was anxious for a few days of hard-core practice to make corrections.
Judging from Maryland’s 89-59 victory Sunday over Maine, the Terrapins took the constructive criticism to heart.
Maryland (3-0) scored the first eight points and led all the way behind sophomore forward Jordan Williams (20 points, 11 rebounds), who registered his third double-double, and senior guard Cliff Tucker (16 points, four steals), who contributed to the 2-for-15 shooting woes of Maine’s top scorer, Gerald McLemore (five points).
But the most encouraging aspect of the rout was the Terps’ care in handling of the ball. After committing 47 turnovers in wins over Seattle and College of Charleston, Maryland had 14 on Sunday against the team predicted to win the America East Conference.
“It was a big emphasis,” senior point guard Adrian Bowie said. “We watched a lot of tape, and we emphasized stop the careless passes.”
Bowie (nine points, eight rebounds, five assists) and freshman Terrell Stoglin (14 points) clearly got the message. After combining for 16 turnovers in the first two games, the two left-handers didn’t have a single giveaway Sunday.
After speculation that freshman Pe’Shon Howard (five points) was the best fit for the point guard job, most of his 17 minutes came at the wing positions as Williams seemed intent on getting Bowie and Stoglin up to speed.
The Terps received 38 points and 15 rebounds from their bench, wearing down the Black Bears with their depth. Maine (1-1) shot 32.7 percent from the floor. McLemore, who made the second-most 3-pointers in the nation last year (102), missed all nine of his attempts from beyond the arc.
“He ran off a lot of double and triple screens, so I had to follow him and chase him,” Tucker said. “But people have to help me out, too, like Jordan and the other big guys.”
The 6-6 Tucker is fast becoming a defensive stopper. His work late against College of Charleston star Andrew Goudelock keyed Wednesday’s 75-74 victory.
“I didn’t envision it coming into the season,” Tucker said. “I knew I could be a great defender if I really put my mind to it.”
