Maryland at No. 17 Virginia, 9 p.m. ESPNU
After wins in the last week over Georgia Tech and Boston College, Virginia moved up to No. 17 in the AP Top 25 poll. Tonight, UVa battles neighboring state rival Maryland. It will be the last time the Terrapins visit Charlottesville as an ACC opponent, as Maryland moves to the Big Ten next season. Virginia plays at Maryland on March 10 in the regular-season finale for both teams. Tonight's game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN, but President Obama is visiting Monticello with the French president, closing down roads this afternoon in the area. As a result, the game was pushed back two hours.
Now some more on the Terrapins:
Record: 14-10, 6-5 ACC
Scorers in double figures: Junior guard/forward Dez Wells (15.2), sophomore guard Seth Allen (12.3), sophomore guard/forward Jake Layman (12.3), junior forward Evan Smotrycz (11.4)
Leading rebounders: sophomore forward Charles Mitchell (6.5, also scores 6.9 ppg), Smotrycz (6.2), Layman (4.8), Wells (4.3)
Assist leaders: Allen (3.4), freshman guard Roddy Peters (2.5), Wells (2.1)
Other notable players: Junior guard Nick Faust scores 9.8 ppg and shoots slightly over 38 percent from 3. Sophomore 6-foot-9, 265-pound sophomore Shaquille Cleare puts up 3.4 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 14.5 minutes per contest.
Best win: On Saturday, Maryland beat Florida State at home, 83-71. In the nonconference slate, the Terps
beat Providence, 56-52, a team that is 16-8 and fourth in the Big East.
Other wins: Abilene Christian, Marist, Northern Iowa, Morgan State, Boston College, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa, N.C. Central, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia Tech
Best loss: In the first game of the season, Maryland lost, 78-77, to now-No. 18 UConn on a neutral court.
Worst loss: On Dec. 21, Maryland lost at home to Boston University, a quality team from the Patriot League, but still not a team the Terrapins want to lose to at home.
Other losses: Oregon State, Ohio State, George Washington, Pitt, Florida State, N.C. State, Pitt, UNC
What Maryland does well: The Terps rank 63rd in the country in rebounding, fifth in the ACC in scoring offense (72.8 ppg), sixth in the ACC in 3-point shooting (35.7).
What Maryland does poorly: The Terrapins allow teams to score 69.1 ppg (11th in the ACC), they shoot 66.4 percent from the line (10th), 44.1 percent from the field (11th), allow teams to shoot 42.4 percent from the field (12th), and 36.8 percent from 3 (13th).
Why Virginia should not be worried: Maryland is a solid team but not overwhelming and doesn't have a solid road win in the ACC and didn't beat anybody in the nonconference schedule that is as good as UVa. Maryland doesn't shoot extremely well and appears to be shaky on defense, things that the Cavaliers should be capable of exposing. Seven-footer Alex Len is now in the NBA, meaning Maryland is missing a defensive and rebounding presence from a year ago.
Why Virginia should be worried: Maryland just picked up one of its best victories of the year over FSU so it should come to Charlottesville with some confidence. Against the Seminoles, Allen returned to the Terps' lineup and had a huge game, notching a career-high 32 points. The Wahoos better hope that he used up some of his hot shooting on Saturday. He made 7 of 10 3-pointers. Wells is a talented payer that gave Virginia trouble last season. Also, will the new start time affect the crowd? Obviously under the circumstances, Virginia pretty much had to move the game back because no one was going to be able to make it in time with the road closures. Now with a 9 p.m. start time, some fans from way out of town might not make the trip because tomorrow is a Tuesday. Students usually love 9 p.m. games, but too bad the game is not televised on ESPN. That would really bring the 'Hoo Crew out. Overall, I don't think the crowd will be hurt too much by the late start time and the road closures, but it could lose some juice.
Maryland has won three of four games, but only one of those wins came against a possible NCAA tournament team in FSU. The other victories came against Virginia Tech and Miami. Certainly, Maryland is capable of winning this game and if Allen or another player goes off for 30 or more points, then the Terrapins will be right there in the game if not on top. I did not watch the Maryland-FSU game so maybe the 'Noles did not play good 'D' on Allen. I would think and hope Virginia could draw up a nice plan to slow him down if he gets going again. The Terrapins are desperate for a win to try and build a tournament resume and this would be a huge one for them. The Cavs need to be ready for a fight and they don't want to let Maryland come into JPJ and snag a victory in the final ACC game at Virginia between the two programs.
After wins in the last week over Georgia Tech and Boston College, Virginia moved up to No. 17 in the AP Top 25 poll. Tonight, UVa battles neighboring state rival Maryland. It will be the last time the Terrapins visit Charlottesville as an ACC opponent, as Maryland moves to the Big Ten next season. Virginia plays at Maryland on March 10 in the regular-season finale for both teams. Tonight's game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN, but President Obama is visiting Monticello with the French president, closing down roads this afternoon in the area. As a result, the game was pushed back two hours.
Now some more on the Terrapins:
Record: 14-10, 6-5 ACC
Scorers in double figures: Junior guard/forward Dez Wells (15.2), sophomore guard Seth Allen (12.3), sophomore guard/forward Jake Layman (12.3), junior forward Evan Smotrycz (11.4)
Leading rebounders: sophomore forward Charles Mitchell (6.5, also scores 6.9 ppg), Smotrycz (6.2), Layman (4.8), Wells (4.3)
Assist leaders: Allen (3.4), freshman guard Roddy Peters (2.5), Wells (2.1)
Other notable players: Junior guard Nick Faust scores 9.8 ppg and shoots slightly over 38 percent from 3. Sophomore 6-foot-9, 265-pound sophomore Shaquille Cleare puts up 3.4 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 14.5 minutes per contest.
Best win: On Saturday, Maryland beat Florida State at home, 83-71. In the nonconference slate, the Terps
beat Providence, 56-52, a team that is 16-8 and fourth in the Big East.Other wins: Abilene Christian, Marist, Northern Iowa, Morgan State, Boston College, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa, N.C. Central, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia Tech
Best loss: In the first game of the season, Maryland lost, 78-77, to now-No. 18 UConn on a neutral court.
Worst loss: On Dec. 21, Maryland lost at home to Boston University, a quality team from the Patriot League, but still not a team the Terrapins want to lose to at home.
Other losses: Oregon State, Ohio State, George Washington, Pitt, Florida State, N.C. State, Pitt, UNC
What Maryland does poorly: The Terrapins allow teams to score 69.1 ppg (11th in the ACC), they shoot 66.4 percent from the line (10th), 44.1 percent from the field (11th), allow teams to shoot 42.4 percent from the field (12th), and 36.8 percent from 3 (13th).
Why Virginia should not be worried: Maryland is a solid team but not overwhelming and doesn't have a solid road win in the ACC and didn't beat anybody in the nonconference schedule that is as good as UVa. Maryland doesn't shoot extremely well and appears to be shaky on defense, things that the Cavaliers should be capable of exposing. Seven-footer Alex Len is now in the NBA, meaning Maryland is missing a defensive and rebounding presence from a year ago.
Why Virginia should be worried: Maryland just picked up one of its best victories of the year over FSU so it should come to Charlottesville with some confidence. Against the Seminoles, Allen returned to the Terps' lineup and had a huge game, notching a career-high 32 points. The Wahoos better hope that he used up some of his hot shooting on Saturday. He made 7 of 10 3-pointers. Wells is a talented payer that gave Virginia trouble last season. Also, will the new start time affect the crowd? Obviously under the circumstances, Virginia pretty much had to move the game back because no one was going to be able to make it in time with the road closures. Now with a 9 p.m. start time, some fans from way out of town might not make the trip because tomorrow is a Tuesday. Students usually love 9 p.m. games, but too bad the game is not televised on ESPN. That would really bring the 'Hoo Crew out. Overall, I don't think the crowd will be hurt too much by the late start time and the road closures, but it could lose some juice.
Maryland has won three of four games, but only one of those wins came against a possible NCAA tournament team in FSU. The other victories came against Virginia Tech and Miami. Certainly, Maryland is capable of winning this game and if Allen or another player goes off for 30 or more points, then the Terrapins will be right there in the game if not on top. I did not watch the Maryland-FSU game so maybe the 'Noles did not play good 'D' on Allen. I would think and hope Virginia could draw up a nice plan to slow him down if he gets going again. The Terrapins are desperate for a win to try and build a tournament resume and this would be a huge one for them. The Cavs need to be ready for a fight and they don't want to let Maryland come into JPJ and snag a victory in the final ACC game at Virginia between the two programs.
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