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Close to full strength, Maryland wraps up nonconference play at 12-1

Greg Kampe knows a bit about assessing power conference programs. Nevermind that he's spent the last 31 years as the head coach at Oakland, a Detroit in suburban Detroit.

Kampe is the architect of one of the great scheduling philosophies in Division I. The Grizzlies routinely play as many high-level teams as possible, constructing a brutally difficult road schedule that simultaneously pays plenty of bills and routinely places Oakland in the top 50 (and often higher) in nonconference schedule strength.

The Grizzlies, who have faced 27 ranked teams over the last 10 seasons, already met Iowa State, Arizona, Michigan State and Pittsburgh this year. So Kampe's opinion is worth pondering in the wake of Maryland's 72-56 defeat of Oakland on Saturday.

How, then, do the 12-1 Terrapins stack up?

"We think they're really good," Kampe said. "We think they're different than Arizona. They're different than Michigan State. They don't have the physicality that those teams have. But they have finesse and [Jake Layman] can score in multiple ways. [Dez] Wells can score in multiple ways. And they have players who can make plays."

And now, Maryland has more of them than at any point all season.

Saturday marked the first time both Wells and Evan Smotrycz played in the same game since March. Smotrycz missed the first five games this season with a broken foot, then three more with a sprained ankle. Wells, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half, had sat out seven games with a broken wrist before coming off the bench Saturday.

It's debatable Maryland was at full strength against Oakland, especially with Wells acknowledging he wasn't particularly aggressive in the game's early stages. He also didn't need to be, considering Maryland built a a 37-19 halftime lead.

That advantage was built on stingy defense and a few timely 3-pointers, major elements of the same formula that allowed the Terps to survive a month without their best returning player in the lineup. Yet it was also constructed with a different rotation, the closest approximation Maryland's offered yet on how its minutes will be allocated in the coming months.

"It was weird looking down the bench and not seeing anybody hurt," Layman said. "It's great. We have so much firepower on our bench. It's just really exciting to see how good we are and how good we're going to be moving forward.

Clearly, Layman, Wells and Melo Trimble are the centerpieces of this team. How the minutes at shooting guard (and at backup point guard) are divvied up between Jared Nickens, Richaud Pack and Dion Wiley remains to be seen.

Precisely how much Smotrycz ultimately plays, and how willing coach Mark Turgeon is to go with a smaller lineup remains to be seen. Bigs Michal Cekovsky, Damonte Dodd and Jon Graham combined for 41 minutes against Oakland.

"I think today was a peek behind the curtain, but we have a lot more in store," Wells said.

Just how much will be learned soon enough. A trip to Michigan State on Tuesday commences Big Ten play, and Kampe --- and who saw the Spartans, and a few other high-profile programs, already this season --- offered an endorsement of Maryland's potential.

"I think they're different than those teams, but they're a good different," Kampe said. "I think they can make a run for the Big Ten championship. I'm not saying they can win it. I wouldn't do that to Mark. But I think they can make a run for it."

--- Patrick Stevens

Alex Len's tip-in gives Maryland a win for the future --- and maybe the present, too

Students streamed onto the Comcast Center court Wednesday evening, Maryland's lengthy drought against ranked teams over at last.

Mark Turgeon didn't need the history lesson. He invoked the fairly recent past, though, one that felt so close and so far away for the Terrapins as they ponded a 51-50 defeat of No. 14 N.C. State.

"We haven't won a big game since Greivis was here," Turgeon said, and he was spot-on in mentioning Greivis Vasquez.

It really was three years ago --- OK, two years, 10 months and 13 days if you want to be a stickler --- since the Terrapins snagged anything resembling a landmark victory. It didn't happen in Vasquez's final NCAA tournament thanks to one buzzer-beater. It didn't happen in what became former coach Gary Williams' swan song, with close-but-not-quite become that team's signature.

And it certainly didn't happen last year, when a victory over NIT-bound Miami qualified as the Terps' emotional high.

How it was achieved probably doesn't matter for Maryland (14-3, 2-2 ACC), which conquered the 50-point plateau only on Alex Len's tip-in with 0.9 seconds remaining. The game, in and of itself, reinforced two present-day realities.

The Terps can defend the snot out of anyone. And their offense remains downright agonizing to watch against remotely capable opponents, a designation for which N.C. State (14-3, 3-1) more than qualifies.

Turgeon, ever candid, knows this. In a postgame session that at times was befitting a coach on the wrong end of a last-second win, he bemoaned Maryland's inability to run plays out of timeouts, to absorb all of the wrinkles he would like to install and a complete uncertainty whether a revamped starting lineup would work.

But there was no disputing the potential upshot of a victory, which was why he went around the locker room before tha game and asked player after player after player just why they came to College Park in the first place.

"He told us if we want to make it big this year, we have to win this game to bounce back --- which we did," Len said.

Len chuckled knowingly, but Maryland just as easily could have limped out with its third straight loss after squandering a 10-point lead in the second half. Turgeon, as much as anyone, intuited how fortunate the Terps were to survive.

Instead of upscreening on the final play, the Terps downscreened. Pe'Shon Howard drove into the lane, giving Turgeon hope something good would happen. It did, only it required Len to collect Howard's airball and drop it in for the go-ahead score.

"He said it wasn't miss," Len said. "He said it was a pass."

(For what it's worth, the final statistics listed it as a missed jumper for the junior. Box score don't lie).

And so brought an end to Maryland's 17-game losing streak to ranked teams, one that dated back to Vasquez's final appearance as a player in College Park. The length of the drought was, in calendar days, the program's longest against ranked foes since a stretch from 1965 to 1971.

It wasn't difficult to summon the past Wednesday. Maryland, though, would like to believe its victory reflected well on the future.

"I came here to do great things," Turgeon said. "We haven't done a lot of great things since I've been here. This is one great thing and hopefully it's going to lead to many other things and help us in a lot of different areas down the road."

So if the recent past is forgettable and the future is promising, what can be said about the present? That's a far murkier issue, one Maryland has yet to define despite easily its most impressive victory of the season.

Turgeon trotted out two freshmen and three sophomores to start Wednesday, which says plenty about the state of the Terps' program. Maryland played ugly and lost at Miami on Sunday, then played slightly less ugly and beat N.C. State.

Up and down the Terps figure to go, though their latest victory provides at least the start of building a profile certain to face scrutiny exactly two months from now when the NCAA tournament's 68-team field is unveiled.

"This is a great group we have," guard Seth Allen said. "I feel like we could do that. We really want to hang a banner up like everybody else."

Look toward the ceiling at Comcast Center, and the last team to earn a banner was the Terps' 2009-10 edition. They were the last to beat a ranked team, the last to provoke a court-storming.

Only one current player was part of it. Local product Nick Faust, then a college junior, wasn't in attendance as a recruit.

"Pe'Shon was here," Faust said. "He told me. They started rioting."

Then he smiled mischievously.

"I hope they riot," he said jokingly.

Not yet, not after a single mid-January triumph. An escape of the Wolfpack guarantees nothing for Maryland and doesn't solve the team's biggest problems. But it might just be a start --- perhaps of something bigger than the Terps have enjoyed in what feels like quite some time.

--- Patrick Stevens

Paris Bennett's surprise lift boosts George Mason past Old Dominion

It wasn't Paul Hewitt's grand plan to find Paris Bennett some playing time Thursday night.

It just sort of worked out that way, and not even because the redshirt junior practiced well of late. Center Erik Copes is banged up, and big man after big man stumbled into foul trouble and, well, there was Bennett checking into a frenzy of whistles early in the second half.

And more than anything besides Old Dominion's general ineptitude on defense, Bennett's insertion ensured the Patriots would finally turn a slugfest into a their most lopsided victory of the season.

Bennett scored 13 points in Mason's 71-46 rout at the Patriot Center, an unexpected source of fluid play on a night almost completely devoid of it.

"Obviously, he made a case that even when Erik's there he should be playing more," Hewitt said.

Patrick Holloway added 15 points for the Patriots (9-6, 2-1 CAA), who won by 25 for the first time since an 89-63 pummeling of Delaware last Jan. 18.

It was an atypical night in many ways for Mason, which dealt with its customary turnover issues (18 of them) and sputtered from the outside.

Even the Patriots' one constant, Sherrod Wright, managed little. Old Dominion (2-14, 0-4) was determined to keep him in check, and the junior managed just one free throw in the wake of scoring 20 points in five of his last six outings.

There was only one problem: Monarchs coach Blaine Taylor's anxiety over allocating too much attention to Wright were warranted.

"That was a good achievment on our part," Taylor said. "Then you have some other guys, like Paris Bennett. I might be wrong about this, but he goes 6-for-6 and has 13 points and I believe he scored only six points all year. That's the kind of thing that's a real thorn in your side."

Oh, Taylor's correct, all right. And it's been that sort of year for Old Dominion, which offered no semblance of an offense in its final trip to Fairfax as a member of the CAA.

The only way the Monarchs were going to stick around was if they mucked it up. And down 30-24 early in the second half, Taylor could hardly complain about where his turnover-prone team was situated.

Then Bennett came in, and the difference was soon evident for Mason. He worked himself into ideal situations and helped the Patriots uncork a 15-2 run.

"That's probably one of the better things of somebody coming off the bench," Bennett said. "You kind of get a feel for the game. You don't get thrown into the fire like the first five guys and you get a chance to correct some of the mistakes you see out there."

There were lots of them early, fewer of them late --- at least for Mason. And it offered a glimpse at a player Hewitt often hails for his versatility and savvy even if it is rarely seen in games.

Bennett logged only 54 minutes in Mason's first 14 games. He took only eight shots. And he's appeared in a game just once since Thanksgiving.

It was an unlikely star turn for a player whose previous career-best was seven points.

"He played great," Hewitt said. "He's a very smart basketball player, probably the smartest player on our team. ... He has a chance to really be one of the leaders on our team. It's best when your players kind of correct themselves instead of a coaching coming in and they hear the same voice kind of whining at them all the time. We need him to do more of that."

Hewitt will take the on-court help as well, as he did when Bennett helped the Patriots roll up 58 points from reserves. Hewitt was the first to admit the bench bailed out Mason, a refrain with the potential to become more common as the deep Patriots head deeper into league play.

It was the 12th man who came through against Old Dominion, a guy whose scoring averaged leaped 1.7 points on what was probably the best day of his career to date.

"I love it here," Bennett said. "Coach has been great. He's a really good coach. He works with us individually on and off the court. You wouldn't want to leave a guy like this."

Bennett isn't heading anywhere. Thursday, though, showed he could help take Mason where it wants to go if he's needed in a pinch --- or in a flow-deprived slugfest in need of a cerebral player.

--- Patrick Stevens

Turgeon still expects Nick Faust back Wednesday

Maryland guard Nick Faust took the last two days off with muscle spasms, but coach Mark Turgeon still anticipates the sophomore will play Wednesday against Florida State.

Faust played only five minutes in Saturday's 94-71 defeat of Virginia Tech.

"It's become more than I anticipated; I expected him to play Saturday, but it locked up," Turgeon said on Monday's ACC teleconference. "He took yesterday off, took today off and he'll give it a go tomorrow. I'll be shocked and disappointed if he doesn't pplay Wednesday. He's feeling better. Hopefully, he'll be full go tomorrow."

Faust is averaging 9.1 points and 3.7 rebounds for the Terrapins, and Turgeon is optimistic the Baltimore product will be able to resume a larger role Wednesday. Faust did not play in the second half of Saturday's victory.

"I'd like to think Nick never gets out of shape," Turgeon said. "I'll know more tomorrow when we practice. The doctors advised us to give him today off. ... I expect him tomorrow to go full tilt tomorrow."

--- Patrick Stevens

Chart of the Day II: High-scoring Maryland ACC openers

As a bonus, here's Maryland's highest-scoring ACC openers ... with Maryland's effort Saturday against Virginia Tech ranking fourth in largest output in the first league game of the season over the last six decades.

124: N.C. State (1978-79, W, 124-110)

104: Clemson (2000-01, W, 104-92)

99: at Wake Forest (1974-75 --- W, 99-78)

94: Virginia Tech (2012-13 --- W, 94-71)

93: at Wake Forest (1975-76 --- L, 96-93)
93: Wake Forest (1987-88 --- W, 93-76)

92: Wake Forest (1998-99 --- W, 92-69)

91: at Georgia Tech (1993-94 --- W, 91-88)

90: Florida State (2004-05 --- W, 90-88, OT)

89: Clemson (1973-74 --- W, 89-60)

--- Patrick Stevens

Terps' Turgeon optimistic Nick Faust will play Wednesday

Nick Faust played a career-low five minutes Saturday, though Maryland coach Mark Turgeon anticipates the sophomore will be ready to play Wednesday against Florida State.

Faust suffered from muscle spasms in his back and shoulder, and did not practice Friday. He had his first scoreless game in 46 career outings as Maryland coasted past Virginia Tech 94-71.

"From everything I'm told, it's just muscle spasms," Turgeon said. "So I expect him to relax and get treatment all day tomorrow. When he got in the game, I think it just tightened up. When he got in the game, he was ready to go. He worked out early this morning just to make sure he was ready. Warmups, start of the game, I said 'Are you fine,' and he went out there and it just cramped up on him."

Freshman Jake Layman scored 20 points while starting in place of Faust. Between Faust's absence (he didn't play in the second half) and Dez Wells' foul trouble, Maryland used an alternate look than usual while putting away the Hokies.

Still, Turgeon is eager to get Faust, who entered Saturday averaging 9.8 points, back into the rotation.

"We need him [Wednesday], so he'll be ready," Turgeon said. "Nick will work around the clock to get ready."

Chart of the day: The Freshman 20

Jake Layman  became the first Maryland freshman this season to hit the 20-point plateau in Saturday's 94-71 defeat of Virginia Tech.

Then Seth Allen did the same a few minutes later.

And if you're wondering the last time two Maryland freshmen did that in a game, well, your guess is as good as mine. It wasn't Joe Smith and Keith Booth in 1993-94; Booth never had 20 points in a game as a freshman.

In fact, the last time Maryland had two different freshmen score 20 points in a game in the same season was 1992-93, when both Exree Hipp and Johnny Rhodes did it (h/t to the fantastic site Terrapinstats.com for making that bit of research possible).

In any case, here's the breakdown from the post-Joe Smith-as-a-freshman era of the most points scored by a freshman in one game for the Terps.

MARYLAND FRESHMEN, MOST POINTS IN A GAME SINCE 1994-95

28: Lonny Baxter (Dec. 23, 1998 vs. North Texas)
28: Terrell Stoglin (Feb. 27, 2011 at North Carolina)

27: Drew Nicholas (Nov. 22, 1999 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson)

25: Mike Jones (Jan. 6, 2004 vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore)
25: Terrell Stoglin (Feb. 15, 2011 at Virginia Tech)
25: Terrell Stoglin (Feb. 20, 2011 vs. N.C. State)

22: Laron Profit (March 4, 1996 vs. Florida State)

21: Jordan Williams (March 19, 2010 vs. Houston --- NCAA tournament)
21: Seth Allen (Jan. 5, 2013 vs. Virginia Tech) 

20: Terence Morris (Dec. 22, 1997 vs. UNC Asheville)
20: Terrell Stoglin (March 2, 2011 at Miami)
20: Jake Layman (Jan. 5, 2013 vs. Virginia Tech)

--- Patrick Stevens

Game 28: Dominant second half carries Terps past Florida State

Maybe Maryland authored its best game of the season against Florida State.

Maybe it didn't.

Perhaps the Terrapins finally collected a victory with the potential to hold up as a quality victory in the eyes of college basketball's most powerful arbiters, the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Perhaps not.

Regardless, Maryland emerged from a two-game homestand unscathed, collecting a 78-62 victory at Comcast Center against the short-handed Seminoles certain to offer some hope in the Terps' long-term prospects.

"We're a better team than we were when we played the teams that are ranked now and outside the conference," coach Gary Williams said. "We're a better team now and I knew it was going to be a process this year. It takes time to develop  a team. I think we're laying the groundwork for this year's team for very good things to happen in the future, but we want to win as many games as we can this year. To get 18 right now with three left, we're doing some things."

Terrell Stoglin scored 17 points and Dino Gregory added 14 for Maryland (18-10, 7-6 ACC), which reached the seven-victory plateau in conference play for the 18th consecutive season.

The margin hinted at a dominant performance, and for the final 20 minutes the Terps controlled the Seminoles (19-8, 9-4).

The first half, though, was something a bit different.

Maryland spotted Florida State an early seven-point lead, then rallied to assume a 36-27 edge late in the half. But much like Sunday's eventual defeat of N.C. State, the Terps frittered away their advantage and were left with a one-point margin at the break.

There was no need to wait until the middle of the second half to dispatch the Seminoles. Florida State, playing only its second game without leading scorer and defensive ace Chris Singleton (broken foot), proved vulnerable to crisp passing and superb shooting without their star.

Maryland quickly made it a multi-possession game, and Jordan Williams' basket with 11:42 to go gave the Terps a 55-44 lead. It was Maryland's first double-digit lead, and Florida State never closed within less than 10 again.

"We just talked about it at halftime --- we're better than that," Gary Williams said. "It's one thing if Florida State can beat us. But why give back that lead we worked so hard to get? We talked about that some, and they were willing to come out and work."

Much like other conference triumph, the Terps needed time to figure out the correct path to victory. Unlike Sunday, when Maryland was 0-for-1 from 3-point territory, the Terps were 7-for-14 from the perimeter. Stoglin's 3-pointer in the closing minutes gave Maryland its largest lead of the night (72-55) and extinguished what little lingering hope the Seminoles held.

"We're good shooters," said guard Adrian Bowie, who scored 12 points. "We just haven't knocked it down consistently. We had a day today when we knocked it down and it made it easier to drive when we knock down jump shots."

There is some question over the long-term value of the victory. Florida State entered the night ranked 48th in the ratings percentage index, and was likely to fall out of the top 50 with a setback. Maryland began the night 0-8 against the top 50 and in dire need of something impressive to its name before March arrived.

Nonetheless, it was arguably the Terps' best accomplishment of the season --- and it came just days before a pivotal visit to No. 19 North Carolina.

"This is a huge win," Jordan Williams said. "This is definitely going to help us a lot. That's a team that beat the No. 1 team in the country at the time, which is huge. They're definitely a great team. They're not the same team they were without Chris, but they're still a great team."

Flipping through history: Current Terps vs. Florida State

Maryland swept a pair of games from Florida State last season, scoring 148 points in the process against the stingy Seminoles.

The Terrapins' returning players this year managed 43 of those points (17 by Jordan Williams). Little wonder, then, that Maryland's three seniors each scored in double figures in both games against Florida State last season.

As for the holdovers. ...

ADRIAN BOWIE: 18.3 mpg, 4.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 tpg, 0.7 spg, .385 FG% (5/13), .400 3FG% (2/5), .857 FT% (6/7)

2008 (H): 6 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1/2 FG, 2/2 FT
2009 (A): 24 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 4/6 FG, 2/4 3FG, 4/4 FT
2010 (H): 11 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 0/1 FG, 0/1 FT
2010 (A): 14 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 0/4 FG, 0/1 3FG

DINO GREGORY: 15.7 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.3 tpg, 0.3 spg, .333 FG% (4/12), 1.000 FT% (2/2)

2009 (A): 16 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2/6 FG
2010 (H): 18 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2/5 FG
2010 (A): 13 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 0/1 FG, 2/2 FT

CLIFF TUCKER: 9.3 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 tpg, .500 FG% (4/8), .250 3FG% (1/4), .500 FT% (1/2)

2009 (A): 5 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1/3 FG, 0/2 3FG
2010 (H): 16 minutes, 8 points, 1 turnover, 3/5 FG, 1/2 3FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 7 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds

SEAN MOSLEY: 24.4 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 tpg, 1.3 spg, 0.3 bpg, .467 FG% (7/15), .000 3FG% (0/1), .667 FT% (6/9)

2009 (A): 25 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 5/7 FG, 3/6 FT
2010 (H): 24 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2/4 FG, 0/1 3FG, 2/2 FT
2010 (A): 24 minutes, 1 point, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 1 block, 0/4 FG, 1/2 FT

JAMES PADGETT: 5.5 mpg, 2.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1/3 FG, 3/4 FT

2010 (H): 10 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1/2 FG, 2/2 FT
2010 (A): 1 minute, 1 point, 1 rebound, 0/1 FG, 1/2 FT

JORDAN WILLIAMS: 24.0 mpg, 8.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.0 tpg, 1.5 bpg, .471 FG% (8/17), .500 FT% (1/2)

2010 (H): 18 minutes, 3 points, 7 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 block, 1/6 FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 30 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 blocks, 7/11 FG

Bubbling up: Wednesday's games of note

Running through Wednesday night's relevant games for bubble watchers ...

* Wisconsin at Michigan, 6:30. The Wolverines have won six of eight, but swept Iowa and upended Indiana in that span. The Badgers are 0-5 on the road against the top 65 in the RPI (yes, that's some statistical cherrypicking). Michigan can claim some relevance if it can knock off the Badgers.

* DePaul at St. John's, 7. The Red Storm is a tournament team barring an epic collapse. Beating DePaul should extinguish any chance of that happening for a team with six top-25 victories.

* Miami at Boston College, 7. The final two weeks of the regular season is manageable for the Eagles. But if they don't manage it (starting with this visit from the Hurricanes)? Things could be dicey in Chestnut Hill in a hurry.

* VCU at Drexel, 7. VCU won the first meeting 52-48 in Richmond. Collecting the return trip to Philly at least keeps the Rams in the discussion for an at-large, even if their profile isn't particularly great.

* Auburn at Alabama, 8. The Crimson Tide gains nothing from winning this game (besides some rivalry-related boasting) and gets destroyed as a remotely viable at-large possibility with a loss.

* Colorado State at Brigham Young, 8. The Rams still have to visit San Diego State as well, and lost to both of the Mountain West powers in Fort Collins earlier in the season. They would be well-served to snag one of the two ... though few teams come out of Provo with a victory. This will be a tough task.

* Creighton at Wichita State, 8:05; Southern Illinois at Missouri State, 8:05. Noted simply because both Valley contenders (Wichita State and Missouri State) don't have much margin for error in the at-large race --- and even then, they're both dicey.

* Baylor at Missouri, 9. The Bears have a chance to nudge their way into the discussion with a closing stretch that offers opportunities for decent victories (Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas). This is also a team with losses to Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

* Cincinnati at Georgetown, 9. The Bearcats simply need to avoid a free fall, but a home-and-home with Georgetown and dates with Connecticut and Marquette remain. It's worth keeping an eye on.

* Kansas State at Nebraska, 9. Yes, there's meaningful late February basketball for the home team in Lincoln. It's important for both teams, but Nebraska has a bit more work ahead of it if it is going to escape a date in the NIT.

* Florida State at Maryland, 9. The Seminoles face their first truly tricky game since losing Chris Singleton. The undistinguished Terps could knock off a top-50 opponent tonight, but doing so would knock Florida State out of the top 50. As much of a conundrum as that is, Maryland simply can't afford many more losses in the regular season if it doesn't want the ACC tournament to be an all-or-nothing proposition.