In case you didn't notice, there was a basketball game today, too. And no, there was no GameThread. Sorry about that; between dinner, Malzahn, Leach, Torrey, and the bowl game, I had my hands full until after the game started, and at that point I was resigned to letting it ride.
I guess it's a good thing that nothing crazy happened then. The Maryland Terrapins were expected to roll over the North Florida Ospreys, and though the margin wasn't as great as it might've been, it wasn't a particularly close game. After North Florida stuck around for the first ten minutes or so, the Terrapins pulled away and stretched the lead out to 12 by halftime. The gap widened in the second half, with Maryland withstanding a 14-2 Ospreys run to win by 23, the final margin stretching to 85-62.
I'll be honest: I saw only parts of this game. I missed the first few minutes, and the next few were spent writing posts on Torrey Smith and the coaching situation. I saw the parts after that, but then the stream I was watching went out at about halftime. At that point, I was left searching for another stream, which I didn't find until late in the game and which was (for me) spotty at best.
But perhaps the most notable thing we can take out of tonight's game is neither statistical nor based on anyone's play: the starting lineup, which saw its first change in the NJIT game, remained the same, with Pe'Shon Howard in for Cliff Tucker. Howard, both statistically and in what I saw (which, again, wasn't the entire game), was good but not amazing. Tucker seemed to like the role, or at least wanted to prove that he deserved to be a starter: after a scoreless first half, Tucker dropped 14 in the second half, with just one turnover. I'm guessing this will be the set-up against Longwood and, presumably, Duke.
The most notable statistical notes come from Jordan Williams. On the one hand, he had 17 points and 10 boards, which is both an impressive outing and a continuation of his double-double streak, which has now tied Joe Smith's. On the other hand, his FT shooting numbers were shockingly horrendous: he was 1-10 from the stripe, with the only make being his final shot. I thought that problem had been fixed, but it obviously hasn't. If this sticks around, it'll cost Maryland at least one game, if not several.
Other than that, everything was as expected. They shot the ball well, going 53% from the field and 44% from deep. They defended well, forcing a mind-bending 24 turnovers and limiting North Florida to just 35% from the field. One unexpected negative was Maryland's own inability to hold onto the ball, turning the ball over 17 times. Jordan Williams and Terrell Stoglin were the biggest culprits - 4 apiece - but that's not a terrible number given how many they forced, which probably means it was a relatively fast-paced game.
Anyway, did those watching have any other thoughts? Share them here.