Turtledroppings.com – Maryland Football And Basketball Blog

I remember the days when I would get so excited for 3 or 4 days for a basketball game.  This week has been the same since the Terps beat Indiana.  With #3 Villanova coming into D.C. for the BB&T Classic tomorrow, the game has been on my mind non stop.  Even though the Terps haven’t put a full game together against a proven opponent, there is much to be optimistic about for this one.

First lets start with Nova.  They are down Senior Reggie Redding for the entire fall semester following an arrest where marijuana was found in his car.  Last year he averaged 7 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists for the Wildcats.  So his loss is significant.  Also, out for the game, and likely the season, is Mouphtaou Yarou with Hepatitis B.  The freshman has only played in two games, but he was logging major minutes, so if nothing else they will miss his body and depth.

On the court they are led in scoring by 5 players who average between 13 and 10 points.  They have very balanced scoring, and anyone of them could produce a big night at anytime as 4 of them have scored at least 18 points in a game this season.  They are all solid players starting with Scottie Reynolds.  He is helped out by Corey Stokes, Taylor King (Duke Transfer), Corey Fisher and Antonio Pena.

Nova comes into the game with a 7-0, but hasn’t really been tested by an elite team.  They did struggle against George Mason down in Puerto Rico over the holiday needing a late 3 to win.  I may be a bit biased, but I would say Maryland will be their toughest test to date.

So what do the Terps need to do pull out a win.  Unfortunately, I don’t think Maryland will be able to hunker down in the 3-2 zone we saw against Indiana.  Villanova has the ability to knock down the open three’s as they are shooting 34% from beyond the arc as a team. They are going to have to play a tough man to man defense, and I would expect to see a little more of Adrian Bowie, and Sean Mosley guarding Scottie Reynolds.  I don’t think Vasquez or Hayes will be able to stop his penetration in to the lane.  The key will be on getting out on Taylor King and the Two Corey’s if Reynolds does get into the lane.   They will knock down the open shots.   Nova is a lot like the Terps as they playing 4 guards a lot.  So they will have to hustle back and find their man in transition, and stop the ball on the breaks.  Rebounding of course will be a key for both teams.  The terps need to put a body on the player they are guarding, and really need a team effort on the glass.  The guards and Williams/Padgett have done a good job rebounding, but they could use a little better effort from Landon Milbourne.

Offensively, much like last season, the Terps will go as Greivis Vasquez goes.  He has picked up his game lately, and you can see it starting to come together.  He needs to continue to get to the line and get in the lane, but he could use a little better shot selection once he gets there.  He is going to be fired up for this one as he and Reynolds are considered to be two of the top point guards in the country.

My prediction for this one is a game in the mid seventies, with both teams having double digit leads at some point, before the Terps pull out a close game in the second half.  While the BB & T games are usually a bit of a home game for Maryland, Villanova travels well, and many fans will make the short trip down I-95 for this one.

Something interesting to keep an eye on is Cliff Tuckers minutes, or lack their of.  He did not play against Indiana, as Gary Williams said it was a coaches decision.  Not sure what happened, but I was pleased with the way he had played in Maui.  Time to see if that was a one game thing, or if it is going to be another year of mystery minutes for Tucker.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 7:18 am and is filed under Maryland Terps Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.