GREENSBORO, N.C. -- If Maryland needed a place to regain its comfort zone, where better than Greensboro Coliseum, site of this season's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament?
And who better to play than UNC Greensboro (2-11), an undersized team that had already lost to five ACC teams by an average of 21 points?
Using pressure defense and transition baskets, the Terps rolled to a 97-63 victory Sunday that set things right - at least for now - after last week's home loss to William & Mary.
For Maryland (9-4), the game amounted to an equipment check for the ACC tournament - a chance for the Terps to get acclimated to the largely empty coliseum. UNC Greensboro was like a warm-up band, not only for the March tournament, but also for Maryland's regular-season ACC schedule, which begins at home Sunday against Florida State.
"It's a new start," said senior guard Greivis Vasquez, who had 24 points in 26 minutes - the fifth game in a row he has scored at least 20 points. "Our season started today."
Maryland coach Gary Williams had entered the game emphasizing inside-outside balance. The Terps had shot 4-for-25 on 3-pointers against William & Mary.
On Sunday, the Terps attempted only 10 shots from 3-point range and made three. Instead, Maryland pressed and trapped, forcing turnovers leading to transition baskets. In their half-court sets, the Terps looked inside to post players more than against William & Mary.
The Terps got 58 points in the paint compared with eight for the Spartans. Maryland was led inside by senior forward Landon Milbourne with 22 points.
"It's a really good feeling walking into the ACC season," Milbourne said. "It just put us back to where we needed to be." UNC Greensboro didn't shoot more than 30 percent in either half, finishing at 27.5 percent.
After hearing about the William & Mary game from fans and the media, the Terps seemed to relish the chance to let loose. Vasquez, who shot 8-for-10 from the field, smiled broadly and pumped his fist as he came off the court for the last time with Maryland leading 90-51 and more than five minutes remaining.
Williams said the game gave the Terps a chance to play "the way we like to play. I was glad to see we were aggressive. If we had a weakness against William & Mary, it was that we didn't go inside. I don't mind 3-point shots at all, but we had to go inside first." Maryland, not a big team by ACC standards, looked large against the Spartans - particularly during a stretch when Williams played 6-foot-10 freshman Jordan Williams and 6-7 junior Dino Gregory together. Also getting onto the floor - he has played sparingly of late - was 6-8 freshman James Padgett, who had five points in his 10 minutes of play.
Greensboro Coliseum, which seats 23,000, was empty enough - attendance was listed as 3,297 - that Gary Williams could be heard by some in the crowd instructing his players. "Deny!" he said with the Terps on defense, followed by "way to go" when they got a steal and a hoop to push Maryland's lead to 43-28.
The Terps will return to the coliseum for the tournament in March.
"I hope we remember it," Gary Williams said.
FG FT Reb
Maryland M-A M-A O-T Pts
Milbourne
10-14 1-4 2-7 22
Williams
3-9 0-0 6-11 6
Hayes
1-2 1-2 0-2 3
Mosley
1-2 4-5 0-2 6
Vasquez
8-10 6-6 0-5 24
Choi
1-2 0-0 0-0 2
Levent
0-2 1-2 1-1 1
Bowie
5-9 1-1 0-3 11
Pearman
0-1 0-0 0-2 0
Tucker
3-7 0-0 2-4 6
Gregory
2-5 7-7 2-8 11
Padgett
2-3 1-1 1-4 5
Totals
36-66 22-28 17-54 97
Percentages: FG .545, FT .786. 3-point goals: 3-10, .300 (Vasquez 2-3, Milbourne 1-2, Pearman 0-1, Mosley 0-1, Levent 0-1, Hayes 0-1, Bowie 0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 16 (Vasquez 6, Mosley 4, Hayes 2, Bowie 2, Gregory, Padgett). Blocked shots: 8 (Gregory 2, Tucker 2, Bowie, Milbourne, Hayes, Vasquez). Turnovers: 16 (Mosley 4, Tucker 3, Milbourne 2, Vasquez 2, Gregory, Pearman, Levent, Choi, Williams). Steals: 12 (Mosley 4, Bowie 3, Vasquez 2, Milbourne, Gregory, Tucker). Personal fouls: 19 (Hayes 4, Williams 3, Milbourne 2, Mosley 2, Vasquez 2, Bowie 2, Gregory 2, Pearman, Tucker). Technical fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
UNC Gr. M-A M-A O-T Pts
Bone
1-4 0-0 1-1 2
Stywall
3-9 11-16 6-11 17
Cole
4-11 2-2 0-2 10
Van Dussen
4-9 2-2 1-1 11
Evans
0-8 5-5 2-3 5
Sellers
0-1 0-0 0-1 0
Koivisto
2-9 2-2 0-0 7
Randall
2-8 0-0 1-3 4
Smith
0-3 0-0 0-1 0
Toney
1-3 0-0 1-3 3
Hardiman
0-0 0-0 0-0 0
Brown
2-4 0-0 2-3 4
Totals
19-69 22-27 17-33 63
Percentages: FG .275, FT .815. 3-point goals: 3-18, .167 (Van Dussen 1-2, Toney 1-2, Koivisto 1-5, Cole 0-2, Smith 0-2, Randall 0-2, Evans 0-3). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 8 (Stywall 2, Van Dussen 2, Evans, Koivisto, Smith, Toney). Blocked shots: 3 (Brown, Cole, Sellers). Turnovers: 14 (Stywall 3, Cole 3, Van Dussen 2, Evans 2, Toney, Randall, Brown, Koivisto). Steals: 8 (Van Dussen 3, Randall 2, Stywall, Toney, Smith). Personal fouls: 23 (Cole 5, Van Dussen 3, Evans 3, Koivisto 3, Randall 3, Bone 2, Stywall 2, Smith, Toney). Technical fouls: None.
Maryland
52
45
-
97
UNC Greensboro
34
29
-
63
A-3,297. Officials-Ron Groover, Tim Nestor, William Humes.
FLORIDA STATE @ MARYLAND
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