James Gist and the Terp defense allowed Virginia Tech — the second lowest scoring team in the ACC — 86 points.
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Defensively, the Terrapin men’s basketball team played close to its average Saturday at Virginia Tech.
But for the Terps, average isn’t very good this season.
The squad ranks last in scoring defense in ACC play, allowing 83 points per game, and that again proved costly over the weekend. The Hokies became the third straight opponent to score at least 85 points — all in Terp losses.
“Our defense isn’t anywhere where it should be,” coach Gary Williams said. “You don’t win unless you play good defense on the road.”
The Terps’ defensive woes haven’t been limited to the road or to offensive juggernauts. They’ve allowed at least 82 points in six straight games, including 97 to Clemson — more than 25 points above the Tigers’ season average — and the 86 Saturday to Virginia Tech, who has the second lowest-scoring offense in the league.
Every time the Terps narrowed the gap Saturday, Virginia Tech widened it again.
“All good teams take pride in how they play defense. We’re not a good defensive team, so that hurts us every time we get on a run offensively,” Williams said. “It seems like we can’t get the stop to get us over the top. Good teams get a two-, three-minute period during the game where they just shut down the other team. You keep scoring and all of sudden you take that tie game and you get it out there. We tied it and we couldn’t stop them after we tied them. It’s frustrating.”
At the core of those struggles are poor perimeter defense and too many second-chance points for the opposition.
The Hokies connected on half of their 14 long-range attempts, including 3-of-4 from Jamon Gordon — a 29-percent 3-point shooter.
“It’s got to start on the defensive end. We know we can score with anybody in the country,” junior guard Chris McCray said.
McCray has proven a solid defender against the league’s best shooters, as demonstrated in containing Duke’s J.J. Redick in two Terp wins, but the loss of sophomore guard D.J. Strawberry to a torn ACL earlier this season loomed large down the final stretch of the regular season.
The defensive-minded Strawberry often set the tone for the Terps when he was on the court.
“Defense is 75 percent attitude, 25 percent technique,” Williams said. “You got to get a bunch of guys out there on the floor that want to stop people. When you do that, then you have a chance to be a good defensive team.”
Do the Terps have those kind of players?
“I’m trying to find them Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,” Williams said. “That’s for sure.”
