Mark Turgeon was battling a cold Saturday in the aftermath of his Terrapins' 73-69 win over Virginia Tech. Maryland had led by as many as 15, and watched that lead fall to two points in the final seconds.
Seems like Turgeon has been battling with his young team, too, all season. The Terrapins (13-7, 3-3) snapped a three-game losing streak, just in time to take their roller-coaster act back on the road Wednesday at Miami.
"We had double-digit leads and the guys were playing very well, but true to course the way we are, we had to make it interesting," said Turgeon.
Turgeon cleared his throat and offered another more important thought on his team. The last three games, including losses to Temple and sixth-ranked Duke, have seen a Terrapin turnaround of sorts, according to their coach, who also happens to be one of their biggest critics.
"I don't want to brag too much because it's just three games, and we lost two of them," he said. "But it's a lot more fun to be around, it's a lot more fun to coach."
His team is buying into his defensive principles and starting to execute the offense a little more crisply, beginning to trust one another, and it paid off Saturday with a solid showing against the struggling Hokies, who were perhaps even more desperate for a win than Maryland.
In the first half, the Terrapins defense held Tech to 24 percent shooting, and took control in the paint at both ends, redshirt freshmen Ashton Pankey and junior James Padgett playing strong and physical. Terrell Stoglin, the last holdout on that team thing on offense, had no assists but he has 28 points, 21 in the second half and many of them daggers that stopped Virginia Tech surges.
Now the Terps hope to take that toughness on the road, where they've struggled this season. They're 11-2 at home but just 2-5 in the rest of their games, including a 0-3 road record. They lost the ACC opener at NC State, and since have fallen at Temple in a nonconference tilt, and also to Florida State.
The Florida State game on Jan. 17 may have been a turning point.
"I don't think we played well down there, especially in the second half," said the coach. "They went into the showers after that game laughing and joking, and it's not that way. I started getting after them.
"We talked about giving more and preparing harder, doing what you're doing, and being a better teammate. It has been pretty intense and I think that you can see that. I think you see a team that really cares about each other."
And one that cares about breaking through on the road where three of their next four games will be played.
"Each and every game I think we're starting to mature, slowly but surely," said senior Sean Mosley. "If things weren't going our way on offense early in the season, it affected our defense, But now when we aren't scoring the basketball we can still get stops."
And that's how teams win on the road.
NOTES, QUOTES
--Maryland, which ranked 10th in the ACC with a .646 free-throw shooting percentage, hit 22-of-32 against Virginia Tech (68.8 percent). The Terrapins were 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) in the second half. Sean Mosley hit 5-of-5, including all three when he was fouled on a desperate 3-point attempt with 1:10 remaining and the lead down to five points.
Mosley thought the team's success at the line -- they hit six of seven in the final 26 seconds -- was an indication of their growing maturity.
"I have been in a lot of pressure situations where I have had to step up to the line and make free throws," said Mosley. "I was glad that he fouled me. It was a tight game at that point and Virginia Tech kept fighting and fighting."
--Terrell Stoglin, the ACC scoring leader, was just 6-of-11 at the line, and missed three of six free throws in the final 34.8 seconds. He did knock down two at 3.6 seconds to seal the victory.
"We're a young team but that's not an excuse, we just need to finish the game," said Stoglin. "We let them come back but we need to finish better."
--Maryland improved to 13-2 this season when making more free throws than its opponent.
--The Terrapins hit 7-of-17 3-pointers (41.2 percent) against the nation's leading 3-point defense. Tech came in allowing just 25.1 percent shooting behind the arc. Stoglin was 4-of-10, but Mosley connected on two of his four long shots, both early in the game to stretch the Hokies' defense. On the season, Maryland is hitting 34 percent behind the arc, the ACC's seventh best percentage.
Terrell Stoglin has 52 of Maryland's 102 treys, 2.6 made per game, the second best figure in the league. He's hitting 39.7 percent of his 3-point attempts, and able to get off so many because he's a primary target behind the line in Maryland's secondary break and because he's such a threat off the dribble that he is able to create space, even against taller defenders.
--Virginia Tech vs. Maryland is becoming one of the ACC's better rivalries. The Hokies draw players and much of their student body from the metro area around Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and that has intensified the rivalry in recent years as Tech has been a factor in ACC basketball. Former Hokie and four-year starter Malcolm Delaney was from Baltimore and loved playing against Maryland, a school he felt had snubbed him in recruiting.
Now former Gary Williams' assistant Rob Ehsan, who made a name for himself working up from the administrative coaching position to a bench coach, is on Seth Greenberg's staff at Tech. There was no love lost between Williams and Greenberg, much of it stemming from both school's ultimately-failed recruiting of Gus Gilchrist, who wound up at South Florida. Gilchrist backed out of a verbal commitment to Tech, and briefly attended Maryland before transferring to USF without ever playing for Maryland.
The Hokies swept Maryland last year, too, losses that helped keep the Terrapins completely out of postseason play for the first time in 18 years.
"It was definitely a physical game, there was a lot of jawing going on out there," said Ashton Pankey of Saturday's meeting. "There was some tension between us."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"I'll give credit to my wife, who went to Penn State, and mother-in-law, who told me something Joe Paterno said in an article, 'Hustle and good things will happen.' So, my thought for the day yesterday (for the team) was 'Have fun, hustle and good things will happen.' That was our approach the last two days. 'Have fun, hustle and good things will happen.' And they did. -- Coach Mark Turgeon after the 73-69 win over Virginia Tech.
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
--at Miami, Feb. 1
The Hurricanes started off 9-2 at home this season and Maryland was 0-3 on the road early. The Terps were hoping something would give. It's the first game against the Terrapins for coach Jim Larranaga, who made his name as head coach at George Mason, often in the shadow of Maryland in the metro area. The Terps have got find a way to slow 6-11 Kenny Kadji, who has had a hot hand of late for the 'Canes.
--vs. North Carolina, Feb. 4
The tall Tar Heels come to town Saturday for what should be Maryland's second sellout. Alex Len hasn't been much of a factor the last two weeks but the Terps need the 7-1 center to match up with Tyler Zeller and John Hinson inside. It's also Turgeon's first game at Maryland against old pal and coaching mentor Roy Williams, who was instrumental in convincing Turgeon to pursue the Maryland job.
FUTURE'S MARKET
F Ashton Pankey moved back into the starting lineup when 7-1 Alex Len injured his ankle, and coach Mark Turgeon seems to like bringing Len off the bench to tamp down fans' oversized expectations of the Ukrainian freshman. Meanwhile, the 6-9 Pankey, who started six of the first 10 games of the season, has taken advantage to play well in his two recent starts. He just missed a double-double with eight points and a career-high 11 points against Virginia Tech.
He has developed some low-post moves to become more of an offensive factor, and he is technically the team's best rebounder, strong, quick to the ball and with big hands. The Terrapins seem to go to him on the low block early each game to establish him, but then often get away from consistently passing him the ball. Pankey, who played for Bob Hurley at famed St. Anthony (N.Y.) High School, is steadily improving after missing all of last season with a stress fracture.
PLAYER NOTES
--Sean Mosley played 32 minutes Saturday and became the 21st player in Maryland basketball history over 3,000 career minutes. Mosley has played 120 games in his Terrapin career, starting 96 times. He had 15 points Saturday, his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season.
--Terrell Stoglin scored 20-or-more points for the 14th time this season with 28 against the Hokies. Maryland is 10-4 when Stoglin scores 20 or more. His 21.3 ppg average continues to lead the ACC.
--Freshman Nick Faust had six points, six rebounds and three assists against Tech, many of those stats accumulated in a key first half run that helped Maryland open a working margin they would never relinquish. When Tech went with a larger lineup in the second half, the Terps' 6-6 swingman didn't get as many minutes and never got back in the flow, according to Turgeon. Faust has become the Terps' sixth man, the coach lauding his play often.
--F James Padgett hasn't had more than four rebounds in any of Maryland's last four games. North Carolina's Tyler Zeller (4.1) has passed Padgett's average of 3.8 offensive rebounds per game to lead the ACC in that category. The 6-8 Padgett is second.
