Terrapins Show Mettle, Rally in the Second Half
Maryland 85, Charlotte 75

By Steve Yanda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 4, 2009

Appealing as the shot might have been, freshman guard Sean Mosley needed another split second to assess the situation: less than 14 minutes to go, his team recently having assumed its first lead. So, stationed in the corner, Mosley pump-faked, watched his defender surge by and saw the path to another needed Maryland basket, one that did not include him shooting after all.

Mosley drove into the lane and initiated a chain of crisp passes, the kind his coach had long sought. Up to Adrian Bowie at the top of the key. Over to Landon Milbourne at the elbow. Milbourne's shot fell through the net, affirming the Terrapins indeed had returned the game's momentum to their favor.

After trailing Charlotte the entire first half, Maryland refocused and converted an emphatic second-half run into an 85-75 victory yesterday at Comcast Center. The result boosted Maryland's record to 11-2, and the way the Terrapins earned it might have been equally beneficial, according to Coach Gary Williams.

"This is good for our team, to be down like we were early and to see what we can do in that situation because we haven't been in that situation for a while," Williams said. "To respond against a good team like we did, I was proud of our guys because we had to work hard to get ourselves out of a hole."

The win serves as Maryland's collective pump-fake, a chance to reevaluate its standing with just one week remaining before conference play. Charlotte exposed many of the Terrapins' traits, both positive -- a stifling defense that can resuscitate a staggering offense; a transition attack that can pile up points in a hurry -- and negative -- half-court offensive execution that struggles to gain rhythm; an overall focus that tends to wane.

Entering yesterday's affair, the 49ers had made only 32.5 percent of their three-point attempts, which, according to several Terrapins, made their deftness from long range all the more surprising.

Maryland's defensive rotations along the perimeter were slow in the first half, which enabled Charlotte to sustain a lead. The 49ers shot 47.8 percent from beyond the arc on the afternoon. Facing unique defensive schemes that were part-zone, part-man-to-man, the Terrapins also struggled early on the boards.

"I think in the coming games we're going to have to come out playing hard -- the whole game, not just in the second half," said sophomore forward Dino Gregory, who was one of four Terrapins to finish with a team-high five rebounds.

Late in the first half, after trailing by as many as 11 points, Maryland adjusted.

Junior guard Eric Hayes said the Terrapins operated a zone defense for the first time all season. As for rebounding, Milbourne said the team was fine once each of its members engaged.

"If everybody rebounds, we're good," Milbourne said. "We can't lay back and depend on a couple of guys. All our guys came in there willing to get the rebounds, willing to help [the post players] out and that's what we need as a team. That's what helped us tonight."

With 17 minutes 40 seconds remaining in the second half, Maryland claimed its first lead on two free throws by Milbourne. Charlotte answered with a basket of its own, but its pace and precision already had slowed, revealing a lack of depth on which the Terrapins capitalized.

Maryland then went on a 19-2 run that lasted just more than four minutes. The defense forced turnovers that the transition game turned into quick strikes. And, with Charlotte reeling, the Terrapins found their half-court sets a little easier to execute.

Junior guard Greivis Vasquez led the charge with a game-high 27 points, one of five Maryland players to score in double figures.

The Terrapins needed half the game to shake off the sloppiness after a month of playing inferior opposition, but they recovered in time to preserve another victory.

"Do what you do well, which is play defense and try to break some balls loose, and we didn't do any of that early," Williams said. "Once we did get the emotion up a little bit I thought we were a pretty good basketball team today for about the middle 25 minutes or so. That's the effort we will need every game as time goes by."