In the visiting locker room following the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s loss at North Carolina Tuesday, the buzzword of the night was “defense” – or lack thereof.
After yielding 16 3-pointers against the fire-breathing Tar Heels, the Terps may have the perfect antidote for their recent deficiency: an opponent who typically struggles from behind the arc.
Sunday, the Terps (14-8, 3-5 ACC) will try to vault back to the middle of the ACC standings against the last place Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-11, 1-7), whom the Terps limited to 61 points in a January victory. It was the lowest total the Terps have allowed in conference play and the third-lowest total for the Yellow Jackets in an ACC game this season.
But against a weaker opponent, the Terps will need to tighten up on the perimeter because, as forward Landon Milbourne said after Tuesday’s game, “Any team can shoot good if we give them looks. … At the ACC level, you can’t leave guys open.”
Out of the 12 ACC teams, the Terps have given up the most 3-pointers and have allowed them at the highest rate (34.9 percent). Georgia Tech, however, has not played with an effective long-range attack, only hitting 88 3-pointers at a less than 30 percent rate, both good for second-lowest in the conference. In their previous game against the Terps, the Yellow Jackets were 5-16 from beyond the arc.
With Gani Lawal, Zach Peacock and Alade Aminu, Georgia Tech has long, athletic forwards who the Terps must focus on defensively. Last game, when the Terps concentrated on Tar Heel forward Tyler Hansbrough, that opened up looks for the perimeter players, who shot lights out and were responsible for the blowout.
“I just feel like we didn’t come out with the defensive intensity we need on the road,” said Milbourne, who will be returning to his home state for Sunday’s game.
Added guard Greivis Vasquez, “Defense is about attitude; I thought our attitude on defense wasn’t good enough, and we paid the consequences. [North Carolina] won; we lost because we didn’t play defense.”
Though their percentages aren’t great, the Yellow Jackets do have capable long-distance shooters. Guard Lewis Clinch was a solid 3-point shooter throughout his first three years with the Yellow Jackets, but has struggled as a senior. He only hit two-of-9 triples against the Terps, but a week later knocked down six against N.C. State.
If the Terps play lazily on the perimeter, which they admitted they did against the Tar Heels, it could decide what figures to be another close, low-scoring game. But don’t expect the Yellow Jackets to scorch the Terps the same way North Carolina did.
“We played very good defense against Miami, played good defense for about 30 minutes against Boston College, so we’ve had our moments when the defense is good,” coach Gary Williams said. “We don’t have the luxury of blocking shots or making spectacular athletics plays, so we have to play good position defense and just really execute defensively.”
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