There wasn’t much doubt yesterday that the Terrapin men’s basketball team would have trouble matching the level of play it displayed in Maui.
The Terps returned from one of the most heralded regular-season tournaments to play Nicholls State – a near consensus pick to finish last in the Southland Conference.
Coupled with facing a far inferior opponent, the Terps took the floor to the tune of a listless Comcast Center crowd.
And although the Terps cruised to an 88-56 win over Nicholls State, dominating in almost every facet, coach Gary Williams sauntered to the podium and delivered a somber postgame address to the media.
“The gym was a third full, things didn’t work right in introductions, and everything can lead into something like that,” Williams said. “Coming back from Hawaii, though you don’t want to talk about it, obviously that’s not easy to do. But you have to do it.”
But even though Williams was fairly gloomy after the game, the Terps delivered a convincing win over the Colonels.
The Terps outrebounded Nicholls State 47-30, turned the ball over just eight times and forced 21 Colonel turnovers. They began the second half on a 16-0 run en route to the blowout win and the starting point guard posted an assist total not seen since Steve Blake was in a Terp uniform.
Junior guard D.J. Strawberry posted a career-high 12 assists and committed no turnovers, showing more progression in his first season as point guard.
It was the most assists since Blake notched 12 assists against Wagner in 2003. Strawberry also added 12 points.
“I think every game I get more comfortable and more comfortable at the point guard position and more confident in myself,” Strawberry said. “I missed a lot of games last year; I’m starting to feel more confident playing basketball again.”
The Terps were greeted by a mediocre Comcast crowd after their trip to Maui, and Williams bristled when asked if he was disappointed by the turnout for the team’s second home game of the season.
“I know why they are not here,” Williams said of the crowd. “It’s Thanksgiving break, and the students aren’t here. There’s a soccer game – I was glad to see the soccer team won – and the Redskins are playing.”
“We live in a metropolitan area. We aren’t playing in Lawrence, Kansas. We are playing in Washington, D.C. People have a lot of things to do with their time besides to come see us play Nicholls State. Did you want me to say, ‘I’m upset because the crowd’s not here’?”
The Terps were lethargic in the first half, but still led by nine at halftime. They started slow in Maui last week against Chaminade and in a 75-62 win against Arkansas, but rallied in the second half. Yesterday, they again used a large second-half run to dispose of Nicholls State.
“It’s been a known fact that we’ve started out games slow throughout this whole season,” Strawberry said. “We jumped out to a 15-point lead and gave them a couple of threes to get back in the game. Against good teams, we can’t do that.”
Senior guard Chris McCray netted a team-high 20 points, while Nik Caner-Medley (16 points) and Ekene Ibekwe (15 points) each posted double figures.
Contact reporter Scott Clipp at clippdbk@gmail.com.
