Maryland Basketball: Terps slam Howard in dominant fashion
The Maryland basketball team has made a habit of winning close games this season.
Fortunately for the Terrapins, things were quite different as they dominated Howard in a 79-56 win on Wednesday evening.
Prior to the game, it was With announced that center Damonte Dodd would miss at least the next three games with an MCL sprain. In his absence, Maryland fans got to see plenty of Michal Cekovsky, who tied a career-high with 16 points.
Aside from the win against Saint Mary’s College (Md.) on Nov. 17, it was Maryland’s most convincing victory of the season.
Howard started the game pressuring Maryland out of the gate and played a 2-3 zone in an attempt to keep the ball out of Melo Trimble’s hands. However, the Bison soon realized that Trimble would be the least of their problems.
Coach Mark Turgeon and several players noted after the game that the game plan was not to shoot the ball from deep all game, like they found themselves doing in the first half.
“We wanted to work inside-out,” guard Kevin Huerter said. “If we started getting the ball inside, they were going to crash down, and we could get wide open shots from there.”
A major key when getting the ball inside was the play of Cekovsky, who connected on eight of his nine attempts from the field.
Turgeon thought that Cekovsky was “moving towards being a starter,” with the way he had been playing. Over the next 10 days, The Slovakian native will have three games to continue cutting down on foul trouble and finding some rhythm to flow into conference play with Dodd on the shelf.
Jaylen Brantley also continued to shine off the bench as he scored 14 points in 22 minutes. He kept alluding to how “whoever plays hard and works hard is going to play” in coach Turgeon’s eyes.
The reserve guard also made a pair of threes in the first half when Maryland needed offensive production. Aside from Cekovsky, Brantley was definitely the most consistent producer for the Terps.
Brantley also mentioned that he feels like he belongs now. when coming into this season, many questioned if he would get much playing time after the addition of Anthony Cowan.
The Terps would just out work the Bison on their way to victory, moving them to 9-1 on the season. It also didn’t hurt that Maryland outrebounded Howard 39-29, including grabbing 12 offensive boards.
Maryland also shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Maryland will look to get win number 10 Saturday December 10th, as they face Saint Peter’s in an afternoon tilt.
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