Maryland Wins Tip-Off Classic Easily
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – John Calipari had to find a bright way to look at what happened to his team on Friday night in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic.
“Thank goodness it’s November 26,” the Memphis head coach said.
His comments came right after Maryland simply dominated his team in an 84-61 romp, a game where the Terrapins led by 32 at one point and had a legitimate shot at setting a record for the largest margin of victory in the Tip-Off Classic (28, set in 1998 and ironically enough against a longtime Calipari assistant at Massachusetts, Bill Bayno). The Terrapins broke open a close game early in the second half by scoring the first seven points and 16 of the first 21 after leading 37-29 at the half. A run of ten straight points, architected completely by the perimeter trio of game MVP John Gilchrist (16 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals), Chris McCray (6 of his 16 points in that run) and D.J. Strawberry (8 points, 3 steals), put it out of reach at 69-41 with 10:22 left.
The only drama remaining in the final minutes was whether or not the Terrapins would set the record for the largest margin of victory, but a late 9-0 run by the Tigers (with all points coming on free throws) kept that from happening.
The Terrapins dominated in almost every facet of the game, holding the Tigers to 29% shooting and forcing 21 turnovers, which they turned into 32 points. They had a 32-6 edge in points off turnovers, 24-4 in fast break points, and 60-20 in points in the paint as they ran their offense to perfection when they weren’t getting fast break layups.
“It worked tonight early, and that gave us the confidence,” Maryland head coach Gary Williams said after the game. “The offense was good enough, but I thought our defense really got us going. Then we executed well in the offensive end, got some easy shots and that gives you confidence in your offense, and that’s probably what happened to us.”
Even in the first half, when the Terrapins couldn’t blow the game open, they constantly disrupted the Tiger offense. They got a hand on many passes or shots, which changed the Tiger offense and forced their top players into dismal shooting nights. Rodney Carney had a game-high 23 points and 8 rebounds, but shot 7-20 from the floor; Sean Banks had 12 points and 10 rebounds, but shot 3-11; freshman point guard Darius Washington had 9 points on 4-12 shooting and committed 6 turnovers. Carney shot over 44% on three-pointers in the first five games of the season, but missed all five of his attempts in this game.
Calipari could easily see what made the difference.
“They were more intense, had more of a sense of urgency, beat us to loose balls, beat us to loose rebounds, and scrambled like crazy and beat us on that level,” he said. “I said at halftime, ‘guys, this is what they’re doing to beat us: breakaway layups, the flex action, and offensive rebounds’ – that’s just hustle stuff.
“You saw Maryland – that game was important to them. They want to win.”
For his part, Williams liked what this means looking ahead as well as what it meant in tonight’s game.
“At this time of the year, I was very pleased with our intensity level,” he said. “I thought our defense was the key tonight, we were able to sustain it most of the game, and that’s what you’re looking for. If we’re going to be any good this year, it has to start on the defensive end, and I thought all of our guys did a great job.”
Gilchrist, the game MVP, was clearly in control of the game throughout and was an easy choice. He was constantly making plays at both ends of the floor, and looked like the floor leader the Terrapins need him to be if they are to go far this season. That point, as well Gilchrist’s continued development, isn’t lost on Williams.
“John Gilchrist – the points, rebounds, and assists were great, but I thought his handling of the tempo of the game was really impressive,” Williams said. “He ran when he should have run, and he got us into the halfcourt offense when we really didn’t have it, and that’s a great sign of maturity for John. As you know, he was the MVP of the ACC Tournament last year, but it was mostly because he was really hot and he scored, but I thought tonight he really made the team play well, and that’s a great sign for a point guard and John was terrific tonight.”
The Terrapins had a clear edge in one other area – bench production. Their bench outscored their Tiger counterparts 24-5, and freshman James Gist added 5 rebounds to go with his 7 points and 2 blocked shots in 23 minutes.
