Terrapins men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon decided it was time for his team to grow up, even if it cost them.
As he watched his players collapse around him against Cornell to start the second half Tuesday night, Turgeon refused to call a timeout.
The first-year coach challenged his team to fight through its struggles against the Big Red, and his decision paid off. The Terps came out of an ugly 12-minute stretch without a field goal to hold on to beat Cornell, 70-62, and complete their six-game homestand undefeated.
“I never thought we would lose the game,” Turgeon said. “[But] I want our guys to grow up. We have to execute better. We have to practice better. Maybe we’re a little caught up in the seven-game winning streak instead of where we really are as a team.”
The Terps looked like one of the ACC’s finest to start the game, ripping off 16 straight points and jumping out to an early 21-point lead. They featured one of their best defensive stretches of the season, causing six turnovers as Cornell shot just 1-for-10 to start the game.
But as they have all season, the Terps couldn’t keep their early lead. Cornell all but mirrored the Terps’ run to start the second half and drew within one.
The Terps completely fell apart offensively against the Big Red and had trouble hitting shots and running their offense. Cornell, meanwhile, started sinking its shots and inching its way back.
“We did what young teams do when it’s going easy,” Turgeon said. “We just thought it was going to be easy the whole game and so we quit guarding, we quit chasing down loose balls, we started shooting quick, we got a little bit selfish and turned the ball over.”
Guard Sean Mosley, who led the Terps (10-3) with 19 points, helped save the team from an embarrassment on the eve of ACC play. His 3-pointer with 8:34 left in the game marked the first field goal of the second half.
“We got frustrated and tried to score quick and make fancy plays,” Mosley said. “It cost us.”
Even after a 16-0 run by the Big Red, the Terps never relinquished their lead. Center Alex Len scored back-to-back traditional 3-point plays late in the game to keep the Terps ahead. The redshirt freshman finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Despite their obvious height advantage, the Terps struggled to get the ball inside. Guard Nick Faust, who went 1-for-11 in the game, shot more times than the entire frontcourt combined. Stoglin hit just one of his nine shots in the second half, and finished with 14 points.
“We showed our inexperience and our immaturity and I’m just hoping we grow out of it,” Turgeon said.
The Terps regained their defensive intensity late in the game as the Big Red missed each of their final three 3-point attempts in the final two minutes. Guard Pe’Shon Howard and Mosley combined to sink all six of the team’s free throws in in the final minute to close out the win.
“It’s going to help us in the long run,” Stoglin said. “Once we learn how to finish the game, which we have been, we’ll be a better team.”
The Terps enter ACC play riding one of the conference’s longest winning streaks, but Sunday’s opener at N.C. State will be the team’s first true road test.
For a team picked to finish no higher than ninth in preseason conference polls, Turgeon still believes the team has a ways to go before it can challenge in the ACC.
“I just want to get better,” Turgeon said. “That’s all I want to do. I was frustrated with my guys tonight. I want our guys to have a winning attitude, an attitude that we belong. If they do that, and we keep coaching, then we’ll be good.”
ceckard@umdbk.com
