Maryland Basketball Report Card: Syracuse

Playing their third game in four days, the Terps traveled up to Syracuse for this year’s Big Ten-ACC Challenge and came up just short, losing to the Orange 72-70. It was a hard-fought game that never saw a lead greater than seven points and came down to the wire at the Carrier Dome.

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Maryland led 66-65 with 1:27 left in the game, but costly turnovers and missed free throws prevented the Terps from hanging on for the victory. Mark Turgeon’s squad had some standout individual performances on Monday night, but as a team, the Terps were sloppy at times and didn’t make enough plays to secure a win in their first true road game of the season.

Taking a closer look at what went right and what went wrong for Maryland in its narrow loss to Syracuse, TSR hands out its latest Maryland basketball report card.

Guards: B

Individually, sophomore wing Kevin Huerter, who was returning home to upstate New York and playing in front of a large group of friends and family, gets an A for his game-high 23 points and 7-for-9 shooting from downtown. Every time Syracuse made a little run, Huerter had an answer with a big shot, many times from well beyond the arc. Turnovers have been a problem for Maryland as a whole so far this season, and entering the game against the Orange, Huerter had been one of the biggest culprits. However, the Clifton Park, N.Y., native only turned the ball over twice against Syracuse, while also making his presence felt on the defensive end with a steal and a block.

But Huerter’s stellar effort was a bit tarnished by the lack of support he got from his teammates. Sophomore point guard Anthony Cowan was Maryland’s second-highest scoring guard on the night with 11 points. But while he dished out four assists, Cowan also committed three turnovers including one with under a minute to go that virtually ended Maryland’s chances of winning the game. Cowan was not sharp shooting the ball and didn’t seem to be able to figure out how to penetrate Syracuse’s 2-3 zone.

Redshirt junior Dion Wiley started his fourth game of the season for the Terps but was a total non-factor in his five minutes of action on Monday night, scoring zero points and missing both of his shot attempts while turning the ball over once and committing two personal fouls.

Bigs: C-

Much of this game was won for Syracuse in the paint. The Terps were outrebounded 39-33 and the Orange were able to successfully pound the ball inside when they weren’t scoring in transition off of turnovers. Syracuse 6-foot-8, freshman forward Oshae Brissett had his way with the Terps frontcourt on his way to posting 15 points and 13 rebounds in his 40 minutes on the floor.

Sophomore forward Justin Jackson started off hot for the Terps, hitting two three-point shots early in the first half, but then Jackson didn’t score another bucket until almost midway through the second half. He finished with just eight points, but did finish with a team-high six rebounds and five assists. Jackson’s four turnovers contributed to Maryland’s troubles and he has looked far from the player who many thought might have been drafted to the NBA after last season.

Maryland’s starting center Michal Cekovsky has made very little impact for the Terps so far this season and once again didn’t do much on Monday night. Despite starting, Cekovsky logged just 15 minutes of playing time and scored just two points with four rebounds.

Bench: B-

If it weren’t for foul trouble, Cekovsky might have played even less minutes and freshman forward Bruno Fernando might have received more run. Fernando started off the game hot as one of the first players off the bench for Maryland. He quickly enforced his will with some devastating dunks and seemed to be the type of physical presence inside that would disrupt Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. But foul trouble limited Fernando’s effectiveness and forced him to sit for most of the second half. The Angola native was still able to finish with 13 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals in just 19 minutes.

After nursing a sore hamstring over the last week or so, Morsell looked nearly back to full strength on Monday night and played 25 minutes for the Terps off of the bench. Turgeon placed Morsell in the middle of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone almost immediately and it seemed to work out pretty well for Maryland at first. Morsell made some gritty plays throughout the game and, along with Fernando, brought some toughness to the floor for the Terps, but his four turnovers, including a few in crunch time, cost his team dearly.

The rest of Maryland’s bench shot just 1-for-4 and scored four points combined. If it weren’t for foul trouble and turnovers, the Terps’ bench production could have been what put Maryland over the top for a win. But not enough Terps contributed on Monday night to beat a solid team like Syracuse.