One of the Maryland men?s basketball team?s biggest question entering the season was which Terrapin would emerge as the go-to scorer for an inexperienced squad.
The Terrapins still haven?t found an answer, and if they keep playing the way they did during an 88-86 victory at Georgia Tech on Saturday, it may not matter.
That?s because the Terrapins are getting points from nearly every player, as all five starters scored at least 13 points to account for 75 of the team?s 88 points against the Yellow Jackets. Combining the inside play of forward Bambale Osby (18 points, 11 rebounds) with the perimeter shooting of guard Eric Hayes (14 points), the Terrapins never trailed against Georgia Tech.
“They shot a very high percentage from the floor, but the story of the game was that we just couldn?t get enough stops,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “We scored enough points. When you score 86 points, you expect to win most of the time, but we just didn?t do enough defensively.”
The Terrapins (14-8 overall, 4-3 ACC) surpassed the 80-point mark for the fourth straight game, as Maryland moved into a tie for fourth place with Clemson in the conference entering Wednesday?s game at Boston College (12-8, 3-4).
Maryland coach Gary Williams said the most important factor in his team?s victory was getting players to compensate for a poor showing by Greivis Vasquez, who scored 13 points, but was 0-of-5 from three-point range in a 5-of-15 performance from the field. Vasquez leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game.
“Guys have to be used to scoring,” Williams said. “For us, that?s what?s valuable about it, because the team you play against can?t put all their defensive effort and preparation on the one guy because we?ve got other guys who can score.”
The Terrapins have won eight of their past 10 games, and four of the past five, to turn their season around after opening the season splitting their first 12.
“Maryland is really playing well right now,” Hewitt said. “They are starting to find themselves kind of like we were finding ourselves.”
The Terrapins have led at the half in all but one ACC game, an 81-78 conference-opening loss to Boston College on Dec. 9. The Terrapins are 13-2 when leading and 0-5 when trailing at the half. Maryland is 13-0 when leading with five minutes to play.
“As long as you have the lead you think you are going to win,” Williams said. “It?s really hard to battle back a couple of times. Teams get really tired of doing that. They get close and just can?t get over the hump, and I?ve been on that side of it too. We were tough.”
