NCAA Tournament First Round Recap - Maryland vs Houston

(4) Maryland 89, (13) Houston 77

While much of the ACC has deliberately decided to operate slow-paced half court offenses, Maryland (23-8, 13-3 ACC) runs a fast-paced transition offense.  Behind superstar guard and ACC Player of the Year Greivis Vasquez, the Terrapins average nearly 80 points per game.  Houston (19-15, 7-9 C-USA) also likes to push the ball up the court and averages over 78 points per game.  The Cougars feature a star of their own, the nation’s top scorer in Aubrey Coleman, who sports a 25.6 points per game average.  A game between two offensive-minded teams usually promises to be fun, and this one would not disappoint.  
 
The scoring started out somewhat slowly.  By the first officials’ timeout, the teams had combined for only 10 points, as Houston led 6-4.  A torrid stretch of scoring ensued following that timeout, though, and the teams traded fast break after fast break for the duration of the game.  For a while, the seventh-place team from Conference USA ran with the ACC’s No. 2 team stride for stride. 
 
For most of the first half, neither team was able to gain a significant advantage, but Maryland appeared to pull away toward the end of the half and led by eight points with a minute to go after a pair of Landon Milbourne jumpers, both of which were assisted by Vasquez.  After a Kelvin Lewis three pointer, however, Adam Brown nailed a bomb at the buzzer from just inside half court to pull Houston to within two at the half.
 
Houston, attempting to conjure up images of the Phi Slama Jama teams of old, tied the game at 39 immediately after the halftime break on a Lewis jump shot.  That was as close as Houston would get for the remainder of the game, and the Cougars began to visibly tire later in the half, as Houston’s shallow bench did not give the starters much time to rest, unlike Maryland, which had significant minutes off the bench. 

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The depth of the Maryland lineup may have been the difference, as Houston’s two best players, Coleman and Lewis, combined for 50 of the Cougars’ 77 points.  Maryland, on the other hand, had a more balanced effort, which was crucial because Vasquez did not have the type of game he is accustomed to.  The ACC Player of the Year was only 5-of-14 from the field for 16 points.  His value was best measured by factoring in his six assists and seven rebounds.  The Terps’ top performer of the game was Jordan Williams, who went 9 of 14 from the field for 19 points.  More importantly, Williams cleaned the glass all night long, racking up 17 of his team’s 47 rebounds.
 
Houston may take solace in keeping up with a top-tier ACC game into the second half.  The Cougars were an unexpected entrant into the field after becoming the surprise winner of the C-USA tournament by outlasting at-large tourney team Texas-El Paso.  The Cougars will need to add depth to their lineup if they want to run with deeper major-conference teams, however.  As for Maryland, the Terps may have let Houston hang around longer than they wanted to, but Aubrey Coleman is the nation’s leading scorer for a reason: He’s not an easy man to stop.  Maryland settled for letting Coleman and Lewis score at will, in turn stopping the other three Cougars, which was a recipe for victory on this night.

 
WHAT’S NEXT

On Sunday, No. 4 seed Maryland will play No. 5 seed Michigan State, who escaped the first round with a win over New Mexico State.


By: John Cary
DFN Sports Guest Writer