Maryland managed to secure the lead in the second-half and never looked back, but in a game that featured both good and bad, we break down our instant reactions:
Cold first-half shooting...Maryland’s inside-out game was on full display in the season-opening win but against George Washington, the Terps struggled to find their touch outside the paint. It was evident that the offense was designed to create scoring opportunities for veteran guard Eric Ayala in the opening minutes as he started 1-for-3 from the field, but the team struggled to take advantage of open shots. Maryland made just three of their first 14 attempts through the first eight minutes as the Colonials settled into their halfcourt defense. Just like game one, it was Ian Martinez, Xavier Green, and Julian Reese who were the first three off the bench but the trio didn’t fare much better through the opening minutes. After George Washington took a 10-8 lead, it was Xavier Green who ended a three-minute scoring drought before Fatts Russell helped reclaim the lead on a pair of made free throws. But still, the scoring drought started yet again as Maryland scored just four points between the under-16 and under-8 minute mark. Once the Terps found the bottom of the neet, George Washington seemingly had an answer on the other end--that is until Eric Ayala checked back into the game with eight minutes left in the first-half. The veteran guard quickly impacted the game and found the basket on a quick driving layup before Wahab poured in buckets on back-to-back possessions. After George Washington stretched their first-half lead to five, Maryland made five of their last six field goals, capped off by an emphatic dunk from Qudus Wahab, to cut George Washington’s lead to 30-29 at the break.
Low post defense...on the other end, the Terps’ defense against George Washington was not at the same level that fans saw in Tuesday’s win over Quinnipiac as the Colonials scored 24 points of their 30 first-half points inside the paint. Center Qudus Wahab drew his second consecutive start for Maryland while Julian Reese checked in as the backup five, Pavlo Dziuba checked in as the backup four, but it didn’t seem to matter who as George Washington crashed the paint. Even despite a near double-double from Wahab at the half (10 points, 9 rebounds), George Washington made a clear effort to attack the paint as the Terps’ halfcourt defense adjusted through the opening 20 minutes. But the Terps picked it up in the final twenty minutes between Wahab and Reese, allowing just 12 points in the paint to close the game.
Second half adjustment…Maryland came out and retook the lead just 21 seconds into the second half after a made Hakim Hart bucket. After flashing a full-court press on the ensuing defensive possession, a steal and finish by Fatts Russell in transition pushed the lead to three as the Terps never looked back. Maryland stuck with the full-court press through the opening minutes, forcing a second turnover less than two minutes in as George Washington struggled to adjust. Maryland allowed George Washington to shoot just 3-of-9 to start the second-half as the Terps regained control, even after Julian Reese, Pavlo Dziuba, Ian Martinez, and Xavier Green checked into the game. With the ball and a seven-point lead in hand, a pivotal moment came when GW forward and former Terp Ricky Lindo suffered his fourth personal foul to send him to the bench and give the Terps more favorable matchups inside, but just two minutes later, Donta Scott hobbled off the floor with what appeared to be a leg injury before returning to action minutes later. But just after the Terps created some cushion for themselves, Maryland went on a three-minute scoring drought during the final eight minutes as George Washington cut back into Maryland’s lead. Maryland suffered back-to-back offensive turnovers in the final five minutes as George Washington responded with a contested jumper, cutting the lead to 66-64 and prompted Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Wahab split his three-throw attempts to stretch the lead to three, but on the other end, it was none other than Wahab who altered George Washington’s shot at the rim with just 100 seconds remaining. The Colonials had a chance to tie the game on a triple with just over one minute remaining but missed as the Terps responded with a timely step-back triple from Fatts Russell. The Colonials had another chance to cut into the six-point lead with a one-and-one opportunity but missed the first attempt as Ayala came down with his third rebound of the night to seal the win.
Three-point shooting...speaking of the cold shooting, it wasn’t just outside the paint where the Terps struggled. Between Ayala, Hart, Donta Scott, and Ian Martinez, the Terps missed their first 13 attempts from three before Scott found the bottom of the night five minutes into the second half. Ian Martinez knocked down the second triple with just under 11 minutes left in the game, but the most pivotal make came from Fatts Russell to push the lead to 70-64, effectively sealing the win for Maryland. Nonetheless, a concerning shooting performance from the perimeter as Maryland finished just 3-of-20 from deep.
Dominance from Wahab…If you couldn’t tell so far, it was another dominant performance from Maryland center Qudus Wahab. Just two days after posting 17 points and 17 rebounds, Wahab finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds and became the first player since Steve Francis in 1998 to score 15+ points in each of his first two games.
Note: Second-year forward James Graham was not available on Thursday night due to a violation of team rules.