Resurgence of Mediocrity

Yes, the Terrapin men's basketball team finally won another game last night. Yes, Gary finally gave Sean Mosley a start. Hallelujah it's about time. After a series of solid first halves and abysmal second halves, the Terps finally played for a full 40 minutes last night against Miami. The Terrapin defense was smothering holding Jack McClinton to only 5 points at halftime and for most of the second half. They also forced 16 turnovers and scored 20 points off those turnovers.

It was good to see the team play with some passion in the second half for a change. The Terps always come out firing in the first 20 minutes of home games and whether or not they have the lead, they play with passion and excitement. Then it seems they lose all that momentum at halftime and can't seem to grasp it once again. Also, it helps when people start scoring again. Landon Milbourne led the Terps with 17 points, mostly in the second half. Dave Neal chipped in 11 and it seems Eric Hayes may have relocated some confidence in his shot that has been missing of late. Jin Soo Kim added a spark off the bench after being reinstated by the NCAA and Sean Mosley provided his usually spark with more solid play. Oh, by the way, Jin Soo Kim can dunk a basketball...that skinny frame does actually have enough muscle to reach the rim.

Greivis Vasquez was one assist shy of a triple-double which would have been the first since 1987 finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. Although Greivis didn't score as much as his average, he certainly brought some much needed passion in the second half to a team that has been lifeless in the last 20 minutes recently. Greivis had his signature no-look pass when it was completely unnecessary and hopefully it landed him on a highlight reel somewhere so he can be happy. With that said, Greivis played well, clearly, and he deserves some credit for getting the team pumped up and ready to play again. Hopefully for everyone's sake the team will continue with this passionate play and win some more ACC games in an attempt to reach the Big Dance, which they still have a good shot at.

However, we must take all this with a grain of salt. Yes, the Terps won and everyone is happy that they finally saw another win. Yes, the Terps played a full 40 minutes of fundamental, passionate basketball. Yes, Greivis was an assist away from only the third triple-double in school history. Yes, even Jin Soo Kim got into the game and fired up the crowd with a dunk. Don't forget however that the Terps shot just 5-19 from behind the arc, an abysmal 26.3%. Not to mention the fact that they are shooting just over 30% from 3 point land on the season, good for the bottom third of Division 1 college hoops. Also, we did just beat Miami, not even close to being good in the ACC.

So take from this win that we have found a little bit of confidence in our shooting and we still have a shot at the tournament. Just remember that this game in no way, shape, or form means that we are back to where we should be this season and there is still a lot of work to be done. Now that we have some momentum hopefully we will be able to achieve our goals for the season.