COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland likes to pound the ball inside to Joe Smith and Keith Booth, but American had a game plan and it wasn't until the second half that Maryland, the ninth-ranked team in the country, could solve it.
But solve the Eagles' packed-in zone it did, running off the first 22 points of the second half en route to a 98-77 victory.
Along the way, Maryland hit a team-record 11 three-point shots, but American added nine of its own in a strong first-half showing to give the Terps (10-2) a solid test heading into their Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
"Three-pointers are nice," said Maryland coach Gary Williams, "but don't let them take you out of what you have to do. We have to get the ball inside to Joe and Keith and we didn't do that very well tonight."
And though it was a barrage of three-pointers that got Maryland into the Sweet 16 with a victory over Massachusetts last March, Williams is not particularly fond of the shot.
"It's a personal bias," said Williams. "To me, there should be a jump ball in college basketball, but there isn't, and there shouldn't be a three-point line, but there is.
"Our inability to get ready to play concerns me. If we play like this in the ACC, there won't be any coming back. I want us to run better offense. I think the threes will be there whether we run an offense or not, so we better remember Joe is the key to our half-court offense."
But without those three-pointers last night, the Terps would have had an even harder time putting away the Eagles, who dropped to 0-10.
Maryland spent most of the first half battling from behind, but with Smith notching his 24th career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Johnny Rhodes (17 points, 10 assists), Exree Hipp (16 points), Keith Booth (eight points, six rebounds) and Duane Simpkins (16 points) hitting on all cylinders in the final 20 minutes, the Eagles fell to earth.
By the 15:41 mark of the second half, Maryland had extended a 36-35 halftime lead to 58-35. Booth then fouled American's Marko Krivokapic, who scored the Eagles' first point after intermission.
When freshman guard Sarunas Jasikevicius (10 points) hit his second three-pointer of the night at 11:36, it tied the Maryland team record for three-pointers in a game at 10. When Mario Lucas hit a three with 40 seconds left, the Terps had a record.
It seemed to be a night for records: Rhodes' 10 assists tied his career high.
Still, it was hard for the Terps to get their offense going. Every inside shot the Terps missed seemed to be rebounded by American's Christian Ast (22 points, 12 rebounds) and the Eagles also had success from the outside, hitting five of eight three-pointers in the first half.
The second half, though, the Terps got their offense going.
"I told our guys at halftime that I've been in Gary's locker room and that he would be quietly hanging it on the players," said American coach Chris Knoche, who played for Williams at American. "We knew they'd increase the pace in the second half and we diagrammed ways to attack it. But drawing it on the board and carrying it out in the corner against Joe Smith and Keith Booth is another story."
NOTES: Maryland senior forward Kurtis Shultz underwent surgery yesterday morning to correct a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. The injury occurred during the preseason and had not responded to more conservative treatment. He will be out for approximately six weeks. . . . Here's one to brighten the day: According to last night's Maryland notes, "The Terps are undefeated, 9-0, when they out score their opponents." The things they learn in college.