105 - 76 
The Terps opened up the season with the first regional round of the 2K Sports Classic against Seattle. Coach Gary Williams was facing many questions about this year's Maryland team, and some of those were answered tonight. Maryland ended up defeating the Seattle Redhawks 105-76. Although the 29 point margin of victory seems like a massacre, the Terps looked very sloppy early on.
The Terps came out of the gate ice cold, scoring only 2 points in the first 4 minutes of the game. As expected, senior Adrian Bowie got the start at point guard. Senior Cliff Tucker and junior Sean Mosley started at the 2 and 3. Senior Dino Gregory and sophomore Jordan Williams rounded out the starting line up at the 4 and the 5. Bowie and Tucker looked shaky handling the ball, combining for 10 of the team's 29 turnovers. After Bowie picked up 2 early fouls, freshman Terrell Stoglin got in the game as his replacement at PG. Stoglin played well scoring 15, and adding 5 assists. He was soon followed by fellow freshman Pe'shon Howard (AKA, the MVPe'). Pe'shon made his mark early, with his first basket as a Terp being a dunk followed by a ferocious pounding of the chest. The MVPe' stole the spotlight with his phenomenal passing, and he lead the team with 8 assists. Hopefully, Pe'shon's performance will be a sign of things to come for this talented freshman.
Jordan Williams, coming off of a fantastic freshman campaign, was facing big expectations for his first game. Jordan played a solid game tonight, posting a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds. Williams is going to have to become one of the primary scorers this year, and hopefully he will be up to the task. Sean Mosley played the type of game the Terps will need him to play in order to have success this season. Mosley lead the team in points, at 21, and was a very efficient 6 for 8 from the field. Despite having 3 seniors on this year's team, I think the leadership on the court will be coming from this talented duo of Williams and Mosley.
Cliff Tucker looked a little lazy passing the ball at the 2, but other than that, he played a great game. He quietly added 16 points, and showed the type of consistency he will need to bring every game this season. Adrian Bowie on the other hand, was just awful. To go along with his 7 turnovers, he only racked up 2 assists. This type of game from Bowie just won't cut it this season. In my Maryland Basketball Season Preview, one of the key questions I posed for this team was, "Will Bowie be ready to take over the starting point guard job?" After watching tonight's game, I believe that answer will be no. Don't take this as a knock on Adrian, he is a fine player, and he has his own niche in the offense. However, he should not be seeing significant minutes as point guard of this team. Plain and simple. I think he would be better of playing the 2, where he will be able to show off his skills as a slasher on the wing.
Dino played an average game today at the 4. He looked good rebounding and blocking shots, but his low basketball IQ was shown with his 4 turnovers. Dino is a fantastic leaper, so hopefully his athleticism will allow him to develop into an interior force by the end of the year. I was very disappointed with sophomore forward James Padgett today. In 11 minutes of work today, he only pulled down one rebound, and just looked silly out there trying to break Seattle's press. His 2 turnovers do not reflect how poorly he handled the ball today. I felt like Padgett was primed for a break out season, so hopefully he will be able to turn it around. Freshman forward Haukur Palsson really impressed me today. His stats may not show it, but he really seemed like that "glue guy" who makes the offense run smoothly. Gary knew what he was doing when he picked up this under the radar recruit.
Of all of the incoming freshmen, the most highly touted recruit was Mychal Parker (Mike). He only saw 7 minutes, and didn't do much with that time. I believe this might be because of his lack of defensive ability. Gary takes pride in his team's defense, and even though Mike is a very talented offensive player, he won't see as much action until he develops an all around game. JUCO transfer Berend Weijs looked good in his 4 minutes today. He had a couple of nice blocks and some big dunks. Weijs is a nice player who gives Maryland some front court depth. Freshman forward Ashton Pankey and junior forward Ersin Levent only saw the floor today in garbage time. I am still interested to see what Pankey can do because he was recruited as a rebounding specialist.
The biggest problem in this game was turnovers. 29 turnovers against Seattle? I know the team was bound to be sloppy, but come on! I think the quickest way to get rid of the turnover problem is to start Pe'shon Howard at the point. Bowie seemed out of control the whole game, picking up 2 player control fouls. Howard on the other hand, seemed to go along with the ebb and flow of the game. Ever since I watched this kid play for the first time, I have been high on him. He was knocked out of the ESPN Top 100, but he said he didn't care. He said he would just prove the haters wrong (Formspring). I love his attitude, and I love the kid as a basketball player. I know Gary likes to give the seniors first dibs on playing time, but in this case, the MVPe' gives Maryland the best chance to win. With #4 Pitt on the horizon, the Gary better figure this out soon.
On a brighter note, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of depth this team has. The Terps went 11 deep, which is deeper than any Maryland team I can remember. Depth is extremely important during the preseason and conference tournaments, because teams play games on consecutive days. This will also allow the starters to be fresh during crunch time, and after losing Mr. Clutch Greivis Vasquez, Maryland will need someone to become their prime time performer.
All in all, I thought this was an average game for the Terps. It was good to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of this team, and how they can improve as the season goes on. The team made some "November" mistakes, but that is expected in the first game of the year. Maryland started the game slow, but still went into the half with a 10 point lead. Gary probably talked some sense into the boys during halftime, and they were able to get it together, outscoring Seattle by 19 in the 2nd half.
Maryland will take on College of Charleston in the final regional game of the 2K Sports Classic, before heading to Madison Square Garden for the semi-finals.
