A flurry of Temple threes and countless squandered opportunities by Maryland doomed the visiting Terrapins Saturday morning, as they fell to the Owls by a final of 73-60.
Temple (13-5, 2-2 A10) had four players in double figures Saturday, including 20-point performances from stellar guards Khalif Wyatt and Juan Fernandez. Terrell Stoglin had 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting for the Terps.
It was a struggle to get going for both teams from the start, as there was turnovers abound on both sides. In fact, Maryland had tallied more turnovers (7) than field goals (6) 13 minutes in. Despite the early offensive struggles however, the Terps were able to shake the dust off and find some openings in the stingy Owls defense.
Just as Maryland seemed to get the ball rolling however, freshmen center Alex Len hobbled off the Palestra court and into the locker room with 9:48 remaining in the first half. Despite a lack of production in his seven minutes of play (0 points, 0 rebounds) his presence was severely missed on the defensive end. The loss of the seven-footer opened up the middle for the outstanding Temple guards, who took advantage of the openings from that point on.
The Terps weathered the Temple storm for the remainder of the half, trailing 32-29 at the intermission. However, an 8-0 Temple run to open the second half, sparked by two quick threes, ultimately dug a hole the Terps could never climb completely out of, although they made a valiant effort to do so.
After falling behind by as many as 12, the Terps battled back behind solid shooting by both Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard, who finished the game with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting. A 7-0 run in under three minutes pulled the Terps within one, but a series of defensive collapses and timely threes by the Owls' seasoned backcourt proved to be a dagger.
Sean Mosley led the team with 10 rebounds but struggled mightily on the offensive end, shooting 0-for-5 from the field, while committing four fouls. James Padgett added 10 points and four rebounds in another impressive game down low.
As a team, the Terps shot a respectable 22-of-48 (45.8%) from the field, but were outgunned from beyond the arc, going 4-of-16 (25.0%) to Temple's 9-of-22 (40.9%). Maryland again turned in a less-than-desirable performance from the charity stripe, shooting 12-for-21 (57.1%).
With the loss, the Terps are still searching for their first true road win of the season, as their two wins away from the Comcast Center were against Notre Dame at Verizon Center and against Colorado in Puerto Rico.
The Terps (12-6, 2-2 ACC) will try and end their first losing streak of the season Wednesday night as they return home for the always entertaining matchup against ACC rival Duke. The matchup will be televised on ESPN and tipoff is slated for 9 p.m.
Notes:
o ESPNU noted the Terps assistant Dalonte Hill was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of driving under the influence and is suspended from the sidelines for two games. Hill apparently also had a similar run-in with the law in 2008 while at Kansas State.
o Wednesday's matchup against Duke will be preceded by a court-naming ceremony honoring legendary Terps coach Gary Williams.