Maryland-Wake Forest Gameday Guide: Terps Aim for Easy Rebound

by Ben Broman on Feb 5, 2011 1:00 AM EST in Basketball

Where: Comcast Center, College Park, MD

When: 1:00

Where to Watch: Raycom; check local listings

Line: Vegas: Maryland -21.5 KenPom: Maryland by 16

Storylines/Notes:

Perfect timing...again. Last time Maryland played Wake Forest, it was directly after a close loss to Duke. This time, they play the Deacs against a demoralizing home loss. There's no better time to play a bad team than when you need an easy rebound win.
Going for the tie, part II. Gary Williams missed the Wooden tie last time out. He'll get a chance to do it this afternoon. And then, thank God, I'll be able to stop talking about this (kinda silly) landmark.
Injuries: Nothing new for Maryland or Wake Forest, which has been without PG Tony Chennault since the start of the year.

Keys in Cliches:

Force turnovers. This has been one of Maryland's calling cards all year, and they should get TOs to come easily against PG-less Wake.
Find a perimeter scorer. This is more of a desire than a key, but Wake is a mediocre defensive team. If Maryland can't find a guard or wing to score here, we might want to just chalk it up for the year.
Just win. Sorry to be so straightforward, but this is the worst ACC team in years. If Maryland can't win beat them at home, I don't really know what to say. Emotion will play into it, yes, but as long as they can start okay, there's no reason they shouldn't run away with it.

Lineups:

Maryland		Wake Forest
Terrell Stoglin (Fr., 6-0)		C.J. Harris (So., 6-3)
Adrian Bowie (Sr., 6-2)		Gary Clark (Sr., 6-4)
Sean Mosley (Jr., 6-5)		Ari Stewart (So., 6-7)
Dino Gregory (Sr., 6-8)		Travis McKie (Fr., 6-7)
Jordan Williams (So., 6-10)		Carson Desrosiers (Fr., 7-0)

I wouldn't at all be surprised to see a lineup change for Maryland, but I'm going with what I know for now. Maryland matches up pretty well here height-wise and in terms of experience; Clark is the only senior, but this is his first year getting major playing time.

Graph:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Maryland has an advantage in all the factors except for FT rate, which is improving every game. Stats say easy win.

Prediction: I know there's the potential of an emotional collapse, and that's something that can't be ignored, but Wake Forest is just too bad. If Maryland shows up - and I have no reason to expect they won't - this should be a whitewash.

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Comments

Go get them boys

This is the first day of the rest of your season. The Terps can still make the tournament. They start by winning the games they’re supposed to win. There are still impressive wins left. Road games. FSU at home, UNC on the road. Just win baby.

PS If the ACC is down, who the hell is up?

by SeattleTerp on Feb 5, 2011 4:25 AM EST reply actions

Don't say the Big East

That is two conferences worth of teams packed into one.

by SeattleTerp on Feb 5, 2011 4:26 AM EST up reply actions

Big Ten and Big 12

Big Ten has OSU, Purdue, Minnesota, and Wiscy in the top 20 and both Illinois and Penn State are hovering. Big 12 doesn’t have much depth, but the top 4 of Texas, Kansas, Missouri, TAMU is pretty ridiculous.

I guess you could say the MWC, too, w/ The Jimmer and SDSU.

by Ben Broman on Feb 5, 2011 9:23 AM EST up reply actions

I agree

Big Ten is way up. They have always had good talent, but it seems this year they have like 10 future 1st round picks.

the SEC, and the A-10 are playing good for the most part too with Duquesne, Xavier, Temple, Richmond, and Dayton. Was expecting more out of Rhode Island this year though

by Terpsfan#21 on Feb 5, 2011 10:06 AM EST up reply actions

BTW

I got Maryland by at least 12 in this game. I think we will come out pissed off for what happened against Duke, and take out that anger on a lowly team. At least we should anyway.

We need to end this year strong, espically in the ACC tourney.

by Terpsfan#21 on Feb 5, 2011 11:11 AM EST reply actions