Terps overcome slow start, advance to tournament final
Forward Smotrycz leads with 20 points as team has most complete performance of season
ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS — On the national radar, Maryland’s 80-66 victory Sunday night over Northern Iowa in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam barely registered a blip. But it was the biggest win of the season for the slow-starting Terps, one that thirdyear coach Mark Turgeon hopes will turn around his befuddling team.
The Terps’ most balanced offensive effort and their best defensive performance this season helped Maryland (3-2) reach tonight’s 10 p.m. final at the University of the Virgin Islands’ Sports and Fitness Center. The Terps will face Providence, which beat La Salle, 71-63, in Sunday’s second semifinal.
“We’re growing up. We had to play two completely different kinds of teams these first two games; we had to guard a certain way against Marist and a different way tonight,” Turgeon said. “We talked about them not beating us from the 3-point line. They got some open looks that they normally make, but I think we wore them down with our defensive pressure.”
Junior forward Evan Smotrycz led Maryland with 20 points and nine rebounds, coming out of an earlyseason slump that extended into the first half Sunday.
Sophomore swingman Jake Layman scored 19 points, while junior guard Dez Wells had 16 points, six assists and six rebounds. Nick Faust (City) added 17 points.
“I thought we really played tough and executed down the stretch. It was definitely a battle,” said Smotrycz, who missed four of five shots in the first half, including all three of his 3-point attempts, but made seven of eight in the second half. “It was one of those games where [if ] you take your foot off the gas for one second, you’ll get punched in the mouth.”
The Terps took that first punch because they had not even turned on the ignition to start the game. But after watching Northern Iowa (2-3) score the game’s first seven points and making some of their large contingent of fans squirm as Maryland got off to another slow start, a three-point play by Faust helped the Terps on the first of many runs.
After leading 33-30 at halftime, the Terps extended their lead to 57-46 with 10:34 to go. But the Panthers closed to 61-59 before a lob dunk by Layman on a pass from Faust led to a three-point play; that helped the Terps go on an 8-2 run to extend the lead to eight with 4:19 to play.
The Panthers cut the deficit to five and got their raucous, purple-clad fan section going. But a drive by Wells and a 3-pointer by Layman quieted the opponent’s crowd.
The Terps spent most of the final minute getting fouled, usually making the first free throw, missing the second and controlling the rebound tip to run out the clock.
It was a satisfying performance for a perfectionist like Turgeon, coming exactly a week after the Terps played what many believed was their worst game since he came to College Park, a 90-83 loss to lightly regarded Oregon State at Comcast Center.
A week after the Terps allowed their Pacific-12 opponent to shoot better than 60 percent from the field, Northern Iowa shot 22-for-57 (38.6 percent), including 7-for-29 on 3-pointers. Junior center Seth Tuttle led the Panthers with 19 points but needed 17 shots (making six) and eight free throws (making seven) to do so.
Asked whether it was the most complete game the Terps played this year, Turgeon said: “Absolutely. We talked about it before the game … We had no chance unless we played that way. Weknew it. Our guys stepped up tonight; they were ready to play. The great thing is that our defense is at another level. It gives you a chance. I thought we played smart defensively. We knew where shooters were and where nonshooters were. For a oneday scout, it was really good. It was a really good night for us early in the year.”
The Terps were as efficient on offense as they’ve been all year. Despite missing a number of dunks and making just 16 of 25 free-throw attempts, Maryland made plays when it needed to down the stretch. The Terps shot 29-for-60 from the field and recovered from a first half in which they missed all eight 3-point attempts; they made six of eight in the second half. They had 12 assists and only eight turnovers.
“It’s nice to see guys hit shots aside from Jake Layman,” Turgeon said.
Faust had his best game of the season, and one of the best in his career, playing under control until the last couple of minutes. He forced sophomore guard Nick Bohannon to shoot 2-for-10, all from 3-point range.
Wells returned to the point, with freshman Roddy Peters coming off the bench, and had just one turnover in 38 minutes. Faust had six rebounds and three steals.
“We’re tired of losing. We’re tired of hearing from coach about not defending well or doing the things we’re supposed to do,” Wells said. “We felt like we let one go against Oregon State, and we don’t want that to happen anymore.”