ATLANTA – As he walked toward the bench inside Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Pe’Shon Howard pounded his chest in celebration with just more than 10 minutes remaining in last night’s game against Georgia Tech.
His three-quarters-court assist to forward Jordan Williams had given the Terps a 13-point lead, capping a 10-0 run and sending Terps well on their way to what proved to be a second straight double-digit ACC road win.
But the success wasn’t without some stress. In going more than six minutes without a field goal late in the second half, the Terps produced the late-game scare that has become a staple of their season. Against an undersized Georgia Tech squad, though, their 74-63 win offered what might be evidence of a team learning how to win at all costs.
“We knew they were going to make that run, and we had to stick together as a team,” said guard Sean Mosley, whose Terp team has lost all but one of its games by single digits this season. “Any road win is huge in the ACC. We just have to continue to do that.”
To start, the Terps looked to overpower Georgia Tech. On their first possession of the game, they went directly to Williams for an easy basket. Against a Yellow Jackets team that dressed only two players taller than 6-foot-5, it wouldn’t be the last time for the Terps (14-7, 4-3 ACC).
Williams was a regular beneficiary of his undersized opposition, getting involved early and overmatching Georgia Tech (10-10, 3-4) on the offensive boards. After failing to notch a double-double for the first time in 14 games last Thursday night against Virginia, Williams bounced back with a 21-point, 15-rebound performance.
“It was important to get my confidence back,” Williams said. “I couldn’t get into the rhythm of the game — only took five shots and only made two [against Virginia]. It was good to get back my swag a little bit.”
The Terps cruised to an early lead behind Williams’ dominance in the post and Mosley’s shooting (16 points). Still, poor early performances from nearly everyone else kept the Yellow Jackets within striking distance. By halftime, the early lead was down to just one point.
“When we jumped out to that lead, they kept after us in the first half,” coach Gary Williams said. “We took it out again, and they were able to bring it back.”
For the first time in more than 400 games, the Terps failed to register a single 3-point basket. But last night, they knew where the scoring would come from. Aside from Mosley’s baseline runner midway through the second half, the Terps scored all of their points inside the paint (48) or at the free-throw line (24).
“We’re not a team that can depend on style of play to win games,” Gary Williams said. “We have to play with a great deal of intensity.”
Their inability to hit outside shots hardly mattered, as the Terps raced out to a double-digit lead in the second half and led by 13 with just seven minutes remaining.
Then the Yellow Jackets turned to a full-court press and half-court trap, forcing the Terps’ ballhandlers into several turnovers. Within three minutes, Georgia Tech had ripped off a 9-0 run.
But the Terps weathered the late-game surge, learning how to escape the pressure and then hitting their free throws.
“We controlled the game,” Jordan Williams said. “We knew they would make a run late in the second half. We just wanted to end it the right way.”
Behind what Gary Williams called a “pretty typical” game from his standout sophomore and a breakout performance from Mosley, who had yet to crack double-digit scoring in the new year, the Terps grabbed their third straight ACC victory after starting 1-3 in the conference.
In taking just five shots outside the paint in the second half, the Terps showed they could win comfortably if unconventionally. This time, it was through a dose of interior scoring against the height-deficient Yellow Jackets.
“We did not shoot the ball tonight well as jump shooters, and we didn’t shoot well shooting layups either,” Gary Williams said. “But we did what we had to do [to win].”
ceckard@umdbk.com
