BALTIMORE, Maryland March 13, 2015 - Mark Turgeon was interviewed by a TV reporter on his way to the lockeroom after the first half of Friday Night's Quarterfinal game with Indiana. He said the Terps needed to close the Hoosiers off the boards and do a couple of other things a little better. At the time, Maryland led Indiana, 42-40 in the third meeting of the season with the up and down Hoosiers. As an observer, it seemed like Turgeon was avoiding the obvious: Maryland had played abhorent defense for the first 20 minutes, the worst I'd seen them play all year. And yet, they were ahead mainly because their offense was as good as their defense was bad. As it turned out, the wise and cagey Maryland coach was merely playing his cards close to his vest. After Indiana torched Maryland in the first half, they were all but shut down in the second. Throw in a ten-point explosion from Freshman Jared Nickens - who took only one shot in the first half - and you have the makings of Maryland's eighth straight victory. Dez Wells was wonderful, mixing a variety of jaw-dropping dunks with dependable mid-range shooting and free throw proficiency. He led the Terps with 22 points. Melo Trimble was equally amazing, finishing with 17. Nickens and Jake Layman were also in double figures with ten each. Today, Maryland plays Michigan State in a semi-final showdown that is scheduled to begin some 25 minutes after the other semi-final between Wisconsin and Purdue.
Baseball After Maryland (10-4, 0-0) dropped two out of three to UNC Wilmington last weekend, two of the five College Baseball Polls dropped the Terps from their Rankings. However, two of the most prestigious, including one that has not treated the Terps well in the past, still have the Terps Ranked. Maryland is No. 16 in the D1 Poll, one in which they have been as high as 8th. The venerable NCBWA has the Terps at No. 25 in their Top 30 Poll. Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America have dropped Maryland from their rankings. The USA Today Coach's Poll was not updated this week, at least on the NCAA website. The better news for Maryland is their success since last weekend. On Wednesday Night, the Terps whacked a good Richmond team, 8-3, at Harford Community College in Bel Air, a venue the Terps turned to last season early on when Shipley Field was deemed unplayable. Shipley was playable today, however, and Maryland used their first true home game as the setting for a 15-0 destruction of the Princeton Tigers. Sophmore Mike Shawaryn improved to 4-0 by pitching seven strong scoreless innings and striking out eleven Tigers. Freshman Jack Piekos, a 6'2" southpaw from Blue Point, New York pitched a scoreless 8th inning, and Redshirt Freshman Andrew Green, a 6'6" rightie from Blairstown, New Jersey, pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out two of the three Tigers he faced, to complete the shutout. The two wins improved Maryland to 10-4. with the Princeton series continuing Saturday at 1 pm and Sunday at 2 pm. The Terps then travel to Elon for games Tuesday and Wednesday, before returning home Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 20-22, to open their Big Ten Schedule with a three game series against Minnesota. The Friday night game begins at 6:30 pm The hitting star for the Terps on Friday was Anthony Papio, who went 4-4 with a home run, two runs batted in and a walk. Joes Cuas, the Terp 3B, contributed a bases loaded, 3 RBI double in Maryland's five-run third inning that broke open a scoreless tie. Papio had led off the third with his home run.
No comments:
Post a Comment