Terps advance to face top-seeded Tar Heels
The most decisive victory of Mark Turgeon’s first season at Maryland couldn’t have come at a better time.
Recommended Stories
The Terrapins’ 82-60 win over Wake Forest in the opening round of the ACC tournament reinvigorates a sagging squad after it lost 10 of its final 14 regular-season games and entered the tournament with little hope.
Also contributing to the pre-tournament gloom in College Park was news that ACC scoring leader, sophomore Terrell Stoglin, is considering a move to professional basketball. On Thursday at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Stoglin had one of the most efficient games of his career — 25 points on 14 field goal attempts — to go along with his career-high seven rebounds and four assists, which matched his season high.
| acc tournament |
| No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 1 UNC |
| When » Friday, noon |
| Where » Philips Arena, Atlanta |
| TV » Ch. 20 |
“We were really disappointed with the way we ended the season. So this is huge,” Turgeon told reporters. “This has been just a great day, a great day for Maryland basketball. I can’t talk about everything.”
What Turgeon couldn’t reveal, by NCAA rule, was the verbal commitment of Charles Mitchell of Marietta, Ga., who announced his intention to sign with Maryland via Twitter. Mitchell, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound power forward, who lives 20 miles northwest of Philips Arena, is the fifth player landed by Turgeon from the prep class of 2012.
Thursday’s celebration was short, however, as Maryland (17-14) considers its quarterfinal opponent, top-seeded and No. 4-ranked North Carolina (27-4). Since toppling the No. 3-seeded Tar Heels as a No. 6 seed in 1986, the Terps have lost seven straight times in the tournament to North Carolina.
In addition, Maryland has a fresh reminder of the power of UNC. On Feb. 29, the Tar Heels drilled the Terps 88-64 as the visitors had no answer inside for 7-foot Tyler Zeller (30 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and 6-11 John Henson (19 points, nine rebounds, three blocks), who got big numbers despite playing less than 30 minutes each.
The team that UNC faces on Friday, however, will enter with more confidence after Thursday’s dominant showing. Maryland outshot Wake Forest from the floor, 54.4 percent to 40.7 percent, dominated the boards, 39-24, outscored the Demon Deacons in the paint, 44-28, and rang up 18 assists, its second most in a game this season.
“That’s the most complete game we’ve played all year,” Turgeon said. “We rebounded. We defended. We executed. We shared the ball.”
In addition to Stoglin, Maryland was bolstered by emerging freshman point guard Nick Faust, who scored a career-high 19 points. Junior James Padgett (10 points, five rebounds) hit five of six shots. Rebounding was a group effort as all of the Terps’ starters had at least five. So was passing as all had at least two assists.
Leading by example was Stoglin, often criticized this season by Turgeon for his selfish ways.
In 2004, another maligned sophomore guard, John Gilchrist, led Maryland to an improbable ACC tournament title as the No. 6 seed. Could Stoglin do the same?
“Coach was talking to me on the plane about being a better teammate,” Stoglin said. “I just wanted to do that — get my teammates involved today.”
