Offense sputters in 1st loss of season
After four wins to openthe season against mid-major competition in which it averaged 84 points and shot almost 57% from the field, coach MarkTurgeonsaid Tuesday that hedidn’t anticipate his Maryland men’s basketball team would be able to sustain such high numbers, especially once the Terps entered their Big Ten schedule.
But he couldn’t have envisioned the offensive drought the Terps suffered through for much of their first true road game of the season Wednesday night against Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum. Maryland shot 26.1% from the field in the first half and 40% for the game, turning the ball over 15 times in a 67-51 defeat, its first loss of the season.
Clemson (4-0) led 38-15 at halftime, marking just the fourth time that Maryland (4-1) has been held to 17 points or fewer at the half in the past decade. It was the Terps’ fewest first-half points since Jan. 13, 2013, when it trailed 19-14 at Miami in an eventual 54-47 loss.
“We missed layups early, we missed free throws early and turned the ball over,”
Big Ten opener
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Turgeon said. “Andwewere about as selfish as any one of my teams have ever played.
“We’ve got a lot of workto do. It’s early in the season.”
By the time sophomore forward Donta Scott, who scored a team- high 11 points, made Maryland’s first 3-pointer of the game 12 minutes into the first half, Clemson had already built an 18-point lead.
After senior guard Darryl Morsell ( Mount Saint Joseph) made a nice cut to the basket for a layup and the first points of the night 44 seconds into the game, Maryland went almost five minutes before its next score. Morsell’s basket represented the Terps’ only lead of the game.
“We weren’t moving the ball [and] weweren’tmoving our bodies,” Turgeon said. “We were just standing, watching the guy dribble. ...
“It’s not a hard game.
You’ve got to change sides with it, and we didn’t do that.”
Clemson, which led by as manyas25points in the first half, shot 45% from the field and made 9 of 20 3-point attempts as it picked up the ACC’s second win in ACC/ Big Ten Challenge.
Senior forward Aamir Simms scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Tigers.
“First half we were really out of sync, turning the ball over and stuff. ... To be honest, they were tougher than us tonight, mentally and physically,” Morsell said.
Maryland cut Clemson’s lead to as little as 12 with eight minutes remaining in the second half, using a fullcourt trap to stifle Clemson and jump-start its own lethargic offense, but the Tigers quickly responded with a 5-0 run to pull away.
Clemson scored 18 points off Maryland’s turnovers and had 11 fast-break points, compared with only two fast-break points for the
Terps.
Scott was the only player to score in double figures for Maryland, which entered the game with six players averaging at least nine points.
The Terps’ trio of upperclassmen leaders in Morsell (four points), and juniors Aaron Wiggins (six points) and Eric Ayala (six points) struggled to assert themselves onoffense, combining to score 16 points on7-for-27 shooting.
“It’s more so like a learning lesson,” Ayala said. “Our first four games, we kind of breezed through.
“I think this will resemble how our competition will be in the Big Ten. The Big Ten is one of the best conferences in the country. We’re going to have to bring it night in and night out.
“I will say I’m kind of glad we got to experience something like this early on, so we can learn from it and be ready to approach practice differently than we have in the past.”