COLLEGE PARK - The seniors showed the way, the newcomers followed in fits and spurts, and the Maryland Terrapins revealed a hint of their new identity while fighting their way to an impressive victory.
By defeating Georgia Tech, 84-77, before a sellout crowd that witnessed the first Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball game at Comcast Center, No. 23 Maryland did not dazzle the Yellow Jackets as much as grind them down.
Senior shooting guard Drew Nicholas played his best game of the season by scoring a career-high 29 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making big shots in the second half. Senior center Ryan Randle overcame a shaky start to score 16 of his 20 points in the second half, while adding six rebounds and a game-high six steals.
And senior forward Tahj Holden, relegated to the bench in favor of freshman Travis Garrison, impacted the game as he has done so often in a backup role throughout his career by scoring 11 points and doing a host of little things.
Maryland (6-3 overall, 1-0 ACC) filled in the rest of the blanks with athletic bodies full of bounce and hustle, as the Terps used a nine-man rotation - without senior backup guard Calvin McCall, who missed the contest with a sprained left ankle suffered in practice on Saturday - to tire out Georgia Tech (5-4, 0-1).
Yesterday's triumph was about the Terps throwing an array of combinations at Tech, which controlled the game inside early but faded late, and never recovered from the foul trouble that hung over their top shooters. Junior guard Marvin Lewis (12 points) and sophomore guard/forward B.J. Elder (19 points) were never on the floor long enough to help the Yellow Jackets sustain a long stretch of good play.
The Terps did not even get a good night out of Garrison, who played only eight minutes and scored only two points after making his second career start. But it didn't matter, because Maryland never stopped coming, never stopped pounding the boards, never stopped competing for loose balls and taking the action to the Yellow Jackets.
And with runs of 11-2 late in the first half and 14-3 late in the second, the Terps pulled away with their numbers. They didn't trail over the final 13 minutes.
"If you forgot what it was like at ACC games, there it was," Terps coach Gary Williams said. "Two teams giving everything they have. I was proud of our guys because they matched [Tech's] intensity level.
"We did the types of things we're going to have to do this year. We don't have those five guys that jump out at you. We've got nine or 10 guys who can be a pretty good basketball team."
Williams mixed and matched his pieces with all kinds of variations.
He tried a three-guard alignment for lengthy stretches, putting the ball in freshman point guard John Gilchrist's hands in crunch time. He turned junior forward/center Jamar Smith loose for 21 strong minutes. Smith answered with six points and a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman guard Chris McCray flew around enough to record two of the Terps' 10 blocked shots and grab three rebounds in seven minutes.
Maryland had trouble for a while containing Georgia Tech's big men. The Terps also gave up too many easy baskets off fast breaks early. But by the end, after forcing 20 turnovers with its withering pressure, the Terps had negated freshman forward sensation Chris Bosh (16 points) and had made life miserable for freshman point guard Jarrett Jack (seven assists, seven turnovers).
"That was a dogfight, man. I know I was on the ground at least 20 times tonight," Nicholas said. "It was such a physical game, and this is big for me and for us. I want to come through in the clutch."
Nicholas led the parade of seniors, who scored all but eight of Maryland's second-half points. He made a difficult runner and a pair of free throws to spark the Terps on an 11-2 run to end the first half, giving Maryland a 36-30 halftime lead.
And after Tech bounced back behind Bosh and center Luke Schenscher (13 points, nine rebounds) to take a 48-47 lead with 14:54 left in the game, Nicholas - with big help from Randle - pushed Maryland over the top.
First, Randle scored three straight baskets, two on layups that followed offensive rebounds and the third on a fast-break slam thanks to a great pass from McCray, to lift the Terps to a 58-51 lead with 10:28 left.
Later, with Maryland clinging to a 69-65 advantage, Nicholas used a screen from guard Steve Blake (eight assists) to get wide-open and sink a 25-footer, making it 72-65 with 3:35 to go.
Only by making just eight of their final 16 foul shots did Maryland make the game closer than it should have been.
Maryland has prided itself on being unselfish in recent years, and Holden was the picture of it yesterday. After missing Monday's UMBC victory because of a death in his family, Holden, who had been ineffective as a starter, did not practice until Friday. He said he took the news of Garrison's imminent start in stride, and his performance spoke volumes.
"I wasn't upset about it. I wasn't here for a week," said Holden, who added four rebounds, three blocks and three steals in his best game of the season. "It made us tougher with more experience coming off the bench today. If this is the way it goes for the rest of the season, I don't mind."
Georgia Tech Min FG FT Reb A F Pt
Elder 24 7-15 4-4 3 2 5 19
Bosh 35 7-10 2-3 6 1 4 16
Schenscher 24 6-10 1-2 9 0 1 13
Jack 38 3-9 3-6 6 7 2 9
Lewis 23 5-8 0-0 8 0 5 12
Muhammad 22 1-10 1-2 6 0 3 3
Nystrom 9 1-5 0-0 1 0 1 3
Nelson 20 1-6 0-0 7 1 3 2
Brooks 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
McHenry 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 200 31-73 11-17 48 11 25 77
Percentages: FG-.425, FT-.647. 3-point goals: 4-18, .222 (Lewis 2-4, Elder 1-5, Nystrom 1-5, Bosh 0-1, Muhammad 0-1, Jack 0-2). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 6 (Bosh 3, Schenscher, Jack, McHenry). Turnovers: 20 (Jack 7, Lewis 3, Nelson 3, Schenscher 2, Nystrom 2, Elder, Bosh, Muhammad). Steals: 5 (Elder 3, Jack, Lewis).
Maryland Min FG FT Reb A F Pt
Garrison 8 1-2 0-0 2 0 3 2
Caner-Medley 22 3-6 0-0 4 1 1 7
Randle 31 8-17 4-5 6 0 2 20
Nicholas 34 8-19 10-13 7 3 1 29
Blake 36 2-7 3-6 4 8 3 7
Smith 21 3-6 0-1 8 1 2 6
Gilchrist 20 0-2 2-4 3 2 1 2
McCray 7 0-2 0-0 3 1 2 0
Holden 21 2-4 5-6 4 0 4 11
Totals 200 27-65 24-35 42 16 19 84
Percentages: FG-.415, FT-.686. 3-point goals: 6-13, .462 (Caner-Medley 1-1, Holden 2-3, Nicholas 3-6, Blake 0-3). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 10 (Holden 3, Caner-Medley 2, Blake 2, McCray 2, Garrison). Turnovers: 14 (Blake 3, Smith 2, Gilchrist 2, Holden 2, Garrison, Caner-Medley, Randle, Nicholas, McCray). Steals: 14 (Randle 6, Blake 3, Holden 3, Nicholas, Smith).
Georgia Tech 30 47 - 77
Maryland 36 48 - 84
Technical fouls: None. A: 17,950. Officials: Karl Hess, Duke Edsall, Leslie Jones.
By defeating Georgia Tech, 84-77, before a sellout crowd that witnessed the first Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball game at Comcast Center, No. 23 Maryland did not dazzle the Yellow Jackets as much as grind them down.
Senior shooting guard Drew Nicholas played his best game of the season by scoring a career-high 29 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making big shots in the second half. Senior center Ryan Randle overcame a shaky start to score 16 of his 20 points in the second half, while adding six rebounds and a game-high six steals.
And senior forward Tahj Holden, relegated to the bench in favor of freshman Travis Garrison, impacted the game as he has done so often in a backup role throughout his career by scoring 11 points and doing a host of little things.
Maryland (6-3 overall, 1-0 ACC) filled in the rest of the blanks with athletic bodies full of bounce and hustle, as the Terps used a nine-man rotation - without senior backup guard Calvin McCall, who missed the contest with a sprained left ankle suffered in practice on Saturday - to tire out Georgia Tech (5-4, 0-1).
Yesterday's triumph was about the Terps throwing an array of combinations at Tech, which controlled the game inside early but faded late, and never recovered from the foul trouble that hung over their top shooters. Junior guard Marvin Lewis (12 points) and sophomore guard/forward B.J. Elder (19 points) were never on the floor long enough to help the Yellow Jackets sustain a long stretch of good play.
The Terps did not even get a good night out of Garrison, who played only eight minutes and scored only two points after making his second career start. But it didn't matter, because Maryland never stopped coming, never stopped pounding the boards, never stopped competing for loose balls and taking the action to the Yellow Jackets.
And with runs of 11-2 late in the first half and 14-3 late in the second, the Terps pulled away with their numbers. They didn't trail over the final 13 minutes.
"If you forgot what it was like at ACC games, there it was," Terps coach Gary Williams said. "Two teams giving everything they have. I was proud of our guys because they matched [Tech's] intensity level.
"We did the types of things we're going to have to do this year. We don't have those five guys that jump out at you. We've got nine or 10 guys who can be a pretty good basketball team."
Williams mixed and matched his pieces with all kinds of variations.
He tried a three-guard alignment for lengthy stretches, putting the ball in freshman point guard John Gilchrist's hands in crunch time. He turned junior forward/center Jamar Smith loose for 21 strong minutes. Smith answered with six points and a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman guard Chris McCray flew around enough to record two of the Terps' 10 blocked shots and grab three rebounds in seven minutes.
Maryland had trouble for a while containing Georgia Tech's big men. The Terps also gave up too many easy baskets off fast breaks early. But by the end, after forcing 20 turnovers with its withering pressure, the Terps had negated freshman forward sensation Chris Bosh (16 points) and had made life miserable for freshman point guard Jarrett Jack (seven assists, seven turnovers).
"That was a dogfight, man. I know I was on the ground at least 20 times tonight," Nicholas said. "It was such a physical game, and this is big for me and for us. I want to come through in the clutch."
Nicholas led the parade of seniors, who scored all but eight of Maryland's second-half points. He made a difficult runner and a pair of free throws to spark the Terps on an 11-2 run to end the first half, giving Maryland a 36-30 halftime lead.
And after Tech bounced back behind Bosh and center Luke Schenscher (13 points, nine rebounds) to take a 48-47 lead with 14:54 left in the game, Nicholas - with big help from Randle - pushed Maryland over the top.
First, Randle scored three straight baskets, two on layups that followed offensive rebounds and the third on a fast-break slam thanks to a great pass from McCray, to lift the Terps to a 58-51 lead with 10:28 left.
Later, with Maryland clinging to a 69-65 advantage, Nicholas used a screen from guard Steve Blake (eight assists) to get wide-open and sink a 25-footer, making it 72-65 with 3:35 to go.
Only by making just eight of their final 16 foul shots did Maryland make the game closer than it should have been.
Maryland has prided itself on being unselfish in recent years, and Holden was the picture of it yesterday. After missing Monday's UMBC victory because of a death in his family, Holden, who had been ineffective as a starter, did not practice until Friday. He said he took the news of Garrison's imminent start in stride, and his performance spoke volumes.
"I wasn't upset about it. I wasn't here for a week," said Holden, who added four rebounds, three blocks and three steals in his best game of the season. "It made us tougher with more experience coming off the bench today. If this is the way it goes for the rest of the season, I don't mind."
Georgia Tech Min FG FT Reb A F Pt
Elder 24 7-15 4-4 3 2 5 19
Bosh 35 7-10 2-3 6 1 4 16
Schenscher 24 6-10 1-2 9 0 1 13
Jack 38 3-9 3-6 6 7 2 9
Lewis 23 5-8 0-0 8 0 5 12
Muhammad 22 1-10 1-2 6 0 3 3
Nystrom 9 1-5 0-0 1 0 1 3
Nelson 20 1-6 0-0 7 1 3 2
Brooks 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
McHenry 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 200 31-73 11-17 48 11 25 77
Percentages: FG-.425, FT-.647. 3-point goals: 4-18, .222 (Lewis 2-4, Elder 1-5, Nystrom 1-5, Bosh 0-1, Muhammad 0-1, Jack 0-2). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 6 (Bosh 3, Schenscher, Jack, McHenry). Turnovers: 20 (Jack 7, Lewis 3, Nelson 3, Schenscher 2, Nystrom 2, Elder, Bosh, Muhammad). Steals: 5 (Elder 3, Jack, Lewis).
Maryland Min FG FT Reb A F Pt
Garrison 8 1-2 0-0 2 0 3 2
Caner-Medley 22 3-6 0-0 4 1 1 7
Randle 31 8-17 4-5 6 0 2 20
Nicholas 34 8-19 10-13 7 3 1 29
Blake 36 2-7 3-6 4 8 3 7
Smith 21 3-6 0-1 8 1 2 6
Gilchrist 20 0-2 2-4 3 2 1 2
McCray 7 0-2 0-0 3 1 2 0
Holden 21 2-4 5-6 4 0 4 11
Totals 200 27-65 24-35 42 16 19 84
Percentages: FG-.415, FT-.686. 3-point goals: 6-13, .462 (Caner-Medley 1-1, Holden 2-3, Nicholas 3-6, Blake 0-3). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 10 (Holden 3, Caner-Medley 2, Blake 2, McCray 2, Garrison). Turnovers: 14 (Blake 3, Smith 2, Gilchrist 2, Holden 2, Garrison, Caner-Medley, Randle, Nicholas, McCray). Steals: 14 (Randle 6, Blake 3, Holden 3, Nicholas, Smith).
Georgia Tech 30 47 - 77
Maryland 36 48 - 84
Technical fouls: None. A: 17,950. Officials: Karl Hess, Duke Edsall, Leslie Jones.