CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Maryland’s 73-57 win at Boston College was a game that showed just how good the Terrapins can be. The Terrapins dominated the game at both ends of the floor and got significant contributions from a few key complementary players. And while the Eagles haven’t been playing well lately, that can’t take away from what this game showed.
The Terrapins were in control pretty much from the outset. They were all over the Eagles early on with their press, and when BC got into a half court game, the Terrapins still stopped them, often putting pressure on the ball to force a turnover or bad shot. They led by as many as 18 in the first half, shooting 50 percent from the field and having a 22-4 edge in points in the paint in large part due to easy baskets they were able to get. They turned 11 Boston College turnovers into 14 points.
“We came to play,” said senior guard Greivis Vasquez. “I thought we should have won that game against Wake Forest, and we came here to play. We came here to play hard and to win this game.”
Vasquez led the Terrapins with 17 points and nine assists. When the Terrapins weren’t stifling the Eagles with their defense, Vasquez helped them pick apart the Eagle defense. They shot 49.1 percent for the game, including 7-12 from long range, and had 17 assists with nine turnovers. He’s having a tremendous season in averaging over 18 points and six assists per game, with an assist/turnover ratio of nearly 2.
“I thought Greivis really did a good job of getting everybody involved in the game today, and early,” said head coach Gary Williams. “When he plays like that, he’s a force, there’s no doubt about it.”
For about a month now, Vasquez has been playing on another level. In a loss to Villanova in the BB&T Classic, Vasquez was 3-9 from the field and had seven assists but also seven turnovers. Since then, he has been on a tear, scoring at least 20 points in each of the seven games leading up to Saturday. While he fell short of that on Saturday, no one can say he had an off day on his birthday.
While Vasquez was the protagonist, he had plenty of support. Landon Milbourne was active and had 13 points and six rebounds, playing the kind of basketball he’s capable of. Sean Mosley had a solid game with six rebounds and good defense. Eric Hayes didn’t put up big numbers but was steady.
Most of all, the Terrapins got a big effort off the bench, especially from Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker. Bowie scored 15 points and helped keep the pressure on the Eagles, while Tucker, who might be their best athlete, had 14 on 5-6 shooting. Tucker made all three of his shots in the second half and all three of his shots from behind the arc.
“I was really glad to see Cliff (Tucker) playing the way he played, he hit those threes, and I was really glad to see Adrian play the way he was playing,” said Vasquez, who helped both get going.
The Terrapins need to get bench production to take some pressure off the starters. They average 17 points a game off the bench and entered Saturday’s game being out-scored in that area. The reserves were a big reason the Terrapins looked very much like an NCAA Tournament team on Saturday.
“When the bench plays as well as it did, I think our team plays better,” said Bowie. “A lot of games, the bench doesn’t really do that much, and we put a lot of pressure on the starters.”
The only drawback for the Terrapins was getting out-rebounded 40-28, with each half being a 20-14 margin in favor of the Eagles. But the Terrapins dominated in every other facet of the game, so it wasn’t an issue. Williams feels they can run if they rebound, but even with the rebounding edge for Boston College, the Terrapins still had a 20-4 edge in fast break points and a 34-10 edge in points in the paint.
Maryland heads home for three straight games having won three out of four. The only loss was an overtime loss at Wake Forest where they certainly had a chance to win. Williams feels like the team is playing well, but knows the challenge is to keep it up, especially after a game like Saturday.
“The hardest thing is to maintain a level of play like that,” said Williams. “You see teams do that all the time. You see them one week and they look like the best team in the country, and then two weeks later, what happened? Well, it’s hard to keep that going. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
If they do, they will look like the NCAA Tournament team many projected them to be before the season.
