Early lead, then narrow escape
Mosley scores 19 points; Len continues solid play with 15
COLLEGE PARK — After scoring the game’s first 16 points, Maryland seemed poised to end the evening’s suspense early against Cornell and to open Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend riding a confidence-inducing seven-game winning streak.
But the Terps are a young team still finding their identity. They are inclined to make their coaches and fans squirm and sweat — which is what happened Tuesday night.
Plagued by second-half mistakes and foul trouble, the Terps gave back nearly all of an early 23-point lead before Sean Mosley (19 points) and Alex Len (15 points, including 5-for-5 from the field) bailed them out in a 70-62 victory.
“We like to make it interesting, there’s no question about that,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said.
The Terps (10-3) will still enter ACC play at North Carolina State on Sunday with their seven-game winning streak. But they also open the conference schedule with doubts about their maturity.
“We showed our inexperience and immaturity, and I just keep hoping we grow out of it,” Turgeon said. “We’ve got to figure it out — it could get real ugly on the road.”
Maryland went more than 11 minutes into the second half without a field goal. Turgeon said he resisted calling timeout because he wanted his young team to right itself without his help. That presumably would have meant protecting the ball better and not rushing shots — two of the errors the coach mentioned.
“We did what not-very-good teams do. We couldn’t figure out how to get out of our rut,” Turgeon said.
Cornell shot 50 percent in the second half and got to the foul line 15 times, making 11, after going through the first half without trying a single free throw.
Len, the 7-foot-1center who was playing in just his third game, made several key plays.
With the Terps up by just three points, he leaped toward the sideline to save a ball inbounds, then got an offensive rebound and scored a field goal and foul shot to extend the lead to 52-46.
Moments later, Len converted an inside basket and another free throw, making it 55-48. Len picked up his fourth foul with a little more than five minutes left and went to the bench. TV: Radio: