FDU @ Maryland
By Chris B.
Well another season of Terps Basketball is here. As a student, I remember thinking thank god football is over, now lets head over to Cole and check out the basketball team. Well luckily for us the football team has made leaps and bounds since then. Now the basketball team on the other hand, has won the National Championship, but since then it hasn't done much to build on that, with the exception of that magical weekend in North Carolina where they won the ACC Tournament. Last year had expectations. Some nights we lived up to them, and others, we looked like we belonged in the intramurals! This year there are expectations, but in all honesty, I don't know what to think. I would like to think they will be high, since this is the most experienced and deepest team we have had since the Championship season of 02.
The boys scheduled Farleigh Dickinson early on before heading out to Maui to face some stiff competition including a first round match up with #8 Gonzaga. FDU gave the Terps pretty much what I expected. The Terps were lead by Mike Jones' 22 points off the bench, and 18 for NCM, and McCray. Ibekwe, Gist, and Garrison also added double figure scoring. DJ Strawberry was back for his first game since recovering from his knee injury that ended last season early. He looks like he will be capable of running the show for with a little game seasoning. MJ will be a spark off the bench (if he doesn't move ahead of NCM) all season long. He looks like he belongs on the court this year. The game was close early (shocker), before taking a 52-42 lead at the half. The second half was all MD with a 21-6 run to start the half, and it was lights out. The Terps totally outmatched FDU and were actually 32-38 from the charity stripe.
D7 Game MVP:
I am going to have to go with Mike Jones here. 8-11 shooting off the bench, 3-5 from long range. I think this game will be huge for his confidence that Gary will give him some minutes, and he doesn't have to feel like if he misses a shot he is coming out. He looked like he was in the flow of the game, got some boards, and played decent D. He could be the spark all season on a consistent basis that we have seen glimpses of in the past.
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