Maryland Terrapins: Will Slow Starts Come Back to Haunt Them?

The Maryland Terrapins defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions Wednesday night, 62-39. The Terrapins again struggled early, only going into halftime up six. The Terps have had a consistent problem of scoring early, and have gone into halftime of many of their games playing at nowhere near the level they finish the game off in.

In the Penn State game they also didn't score for the first four minutes and 51 seconds, falling behind early 7-0. It seems as though Gary Williams has to consistently call timeouts to remind his players that the game has started. Williams made it clear that he does not like doing this, but with a young team many would expect these early struggles to continue.

The Terps had a very slow start against Elon, going into halftime down three. It could have been a lot worse for the Terps, as just 10 minutes in they were already down 11. These past two slow starts could kill Maryland in ACC play when they take on real opponents. If Maryland wants any hope of beating Duke like they did last year, they are going to need to get on top early, and knock the confidence out of Duke.

Other Quick Hitters From the Penn State Game:

- The press and breaking of the press looked a lot better. Maryland came with the press after going down early, and although it did not cause any turnovers that I can remember, they also did not get beat on the easy layup.

On the other hand, the few times when Penn State pressed, Maryland was able to pass the ball right around it and down to a bag man for an easy slam. I said a few weeks ago that Maryland's short amount of practice time may have been the reason for the struggles against the press, and now that Williams has had some time with them, things are looking much better.

- Jordan Williams should be fine, and only need a couple of stitches. Williams was hit in the scalp late in the second half, and walked off the court bleeding. It looked like nothing serious and Gary Williams said after the game that he will just need a few stitches. Jordan played well, notching his sixth double-double of the year. It seemed like he had more confidence this game, as multiple times early he got the ball down low and really attacked the rim.

- Sean Mosley may have broken out of his slump, scoring ten points on three-of-five shooting. He had only made on three this year, but knocked down two of three against Penn State. A fan favorite, if Mosley can break out of his slump the Terps may be able to start to put more points on the board.

- The defense for the Terps looked great, as they held Penn State to only 39 points. Penn State shot just three-of-27 from the three-point line and 20 percent overall. The Lions are normally a solid shooting team, so those low percentages are a compliment to the hard work of the Terrapins defense.

- Penn State could very well not win a game in the Big Ten this year. They have one star player in Battle, who scored 21 of their 39 points, and then a huge drop off. Their second leading scorer after 21 was six points, by Jeff Brooks. Everyone is already saying the Big Ten is the best conference in the nation this year, and Penn State fans could be in for a long season.

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