Guard Nick Faust scored a career-high 20 points in a 71-60 win over Wake Forest on Feb. 18, 2014.
After scoring a career-high 20 points in a 71-60 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday night, Terrapins men’s basketball guard Nick Faust leaned back in his chair with a smile on his face while speaking with the media.
But Faust’s performance came before an announced 10,665 at Comcast Center, an arena which can seat 17,950 fans. It was the smallest crowd this season to show up for an ACC game. So the Terps’ longest tenured rotation player leaned forward to deliver one message with a more serious tone.
“This is for the fans,” Faust said, repeatedly pounding his palm into the table in front of him for emphasis. “We want you to come out. We want you to support us every game. We know you’re gonna be here for Syracuse.”
The Terps have already announced a general public sellout for the game against the No. 1 Orange on Monday, but less than two-thirds of Comcast Center’s seats were filled for the victory over the middling Demon Deacons.
“It’s kind of been that way all year with our fans,” forward Jake Layman said.
Layman made sure to express his pleasure with the fans in attendance and said he’s looking forward to playing Syracuse when he expects significantly increased attendance.
Forward Charles Mitchell didn’t mind the empty red seats Tuesday night. His play certainly didn’t seem to take a dip as he scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“I know our fans will come,” Mitchell said. “We still got to go out there and play our hearts out and give it our all.”
Still, the Terps played in front of a rabid fan base Saturday in a loss at No. 8 Duke, and Layman said the team fed off of that energy in Cameron Indoor Stadium. So he’d like to see the same atmosphere in Comcast Center.
“It’s definitely more fun playing in front of a sold out crowd that’s going crazy,” Layman said. “But that’s just something you got to play through.”
