No James Gist. No Landon Milbourne. No problem.
That was the case Sunday, when Maryland opened the season with a 79-50 win over North Florida at Comcast Center. But coach Gary Williams is ready to get on with the season ? with both of his starting forwards in the lineup.
“It was good for our players now that it?s over because they had to make adjustments,” Williams said. “There are things that happen over the course of a year with 35-36 games and this was a new experience for me.”
Gist and Milbourne were suspended for Sunday?s opener ? a first round game in the O?Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic ? for taking part in a non-sanctioned basketball event in the offseason. In their absence, all Maryland did was out-rebound North Florida, 43-26.
“Landon is a big guard, he rebounds, and James has been here. He rebounds,” senior forward Bambale Osby said. “Not having those guys on the floor, that?s always going to be tough.”
Maryland survived and will play Hampton (1-0) in Monday?s College Park region final. The winner will advance to the semifinal round in Kansas City, Mo.
Osby was key in the win, grabbing seven rebounds and adding 15 points. He started rough, but sparked the team in the second half with a handful of big dunks ? and one big clank to open the second half.
“Boom was kind of in a fog in the first half and in the second half he got out of it. I think when he missed that dunk it really shook him up and got him going,” Williams said. “We need him. We only have two seniors and he?s one of them.”
Maryland?s freshmen were solid ? led by Adrian Bowie?s 12 points. Cliff Tucker, who started in place of Milbourne, had eight points and seven rebounds.
“They did pretty good,” saidh sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez, who led the way with 18 points. “They?re still rookies and its hard. It was fun for me playing with them today. We still need to work on our offense and we need to stat the game way better than we did.”
Sophomore Eric Hayes had 15 points and eight assists, drawing praise from Williams for his ability to run the offense.
The Terps made up for a rocky start with two impressive runs ? a 12-0 stretch over nearly eight minutes in the first half, and an 11-0 run over 3:05 in the second half.
Monday?s opponent shows the same potential.
Behind sophomore guard Vincent Simpson?s 17 second-half points, Hampton advanced with a 72-55 win over Tulsa Sunday. Simpson finished with 25 points, and senior guard Rashad West had 22.
Last season, Maryland opened with a 102-75 win over Hampton.
“We watched the first half [Sunday] and they?re a much different team from last year,” Osby said. “They?re going to shot a lot of threes, but they?re also goig to kill you on the boards. It?s going to be a much different look for this game.”
And Maryland will have little time to prepare, playing less than 24 hours after Sunday night?s game commenced.
“It?s tough when it?s like that,” Vasquez said. “We have to come ready to play hard. It?s new for some people, but I?m ready.”
HAMPTON PIRATES (1-0) AT MARYLAND TERRAPINS (1-0)
» Time: Monday, 9 p.m.
» Where: Comcast Center
» TV: ESPNU
» Radio: 105.7 FM/1300 AM
