Men's basketball far from fine in victory vs. Northwood

Watching a third straight free throw clank off the rim near the end of Friday night's exhibition game against Northwood, Terrapins men's basketball guard Terrell Stoglin walked a few steps forward and hung his head in frustration.

The Terps weren't ready for this game — or any game — and he knew it. There were air balls, sloppy press breaks, missed assignments on the defensive end, turnovers and, of course, missed free throws.

After holding a 19-point second-half lead, the Terps nearly gave away their lone exhibition game before holding on to beat the Seahawks, 89-84. Stoglin, despite a 0-for-6 start from the field, led the Terps in scoring with 23 points.

"That was a good win for us," coach Mark Turgeon said. "They know how to win and we don't really know how to win, and it showed at times. We knew it was going to be tough."

The Terps struggled switching on screens, opening up looks from behind the arc and lanes into the paint for the Seahawks. With guard Nick Faust on the bench due to cramps for much of the second half, the Terps allowed Northwood to reel off a 15-3 run to pull within single digits.

Jonathan Dunn, the Seahawks' 6-foot-3 point guard, ripped off 29 points in the second half to lead the improbable upset bid.

"That kid was phenomenal in the second half," Turgeon said. "We have so many holes. I can't remember the last time a team scored 80 on us."

Turgeon admitted afterward he just hasn't had enough time with the team in practice to implement fundamentals as basic as press breaks or inbound plays. Without a true point guard on the roster after Pe'Shon Howard broke his foot last week, the Terps had trouble making decisions on the offensive end. They turned the ball over 23 times, more than double the Seahawks' total.

"We're just not very good with the basketball," Turgeon said. "Our turnovers were just ridiculous. At some point I said, ‘I can't help you. I can't dribble for you. I can't catch it for you.'"

Still, it was an improvement from a week ago.

"We couldn't even run our offensive plays at the beginning of last week," Stoglin said.

For all the rusty moments Turgeon endured, he had some consolation in the play of Faust, his prized freshman. After the guard missed four of his first five shots, he nailed a 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining in the first half.

Then, with just a few seconds on the clock before the half, Faust heaved a three-quarters-court prayer right beside the Terps' bench that swished in at the buzzer.

"Either a kid has it or he doesn't, and Nick has it," Turgeon said. "We can all see that just in his first game. He's got it. He's going to be great."

The freshman hit both of his 3-point attempts at the start of the second half before leaving the game with cramps. Turgeon said Faust has suffered stomach problems in practice and that he's "got to start taking care of himself."

"He just had the jitters," guard Sean Mosley said of Faust's early struggles. "He came out and shot a couple airballs, but as the game got going he started to feel confident in the offense."

Starting forwards Ashton Pankey and James Padgett combined for 22 points on 10-for-13 shooting and 14 rebounds in the win. Mosley finished with 20 points, while Faust had 14. Freshman center Alex Len, in what will likely be his only in-game appearance until late December due to an NCAA suspension, played 16 minutes, scored four points and added six rebounds and a block.

Still, it was only an exhibition and the result, as close as it was, doesn't count either way. With Sunday's season opener quickly approaching, the Terps know they have quite a bit to address.

"With those turnovers down the stretch and throughout the game, we just have to protect the ball more," Mosley said. "Guys are going to make mistakes, and that's basketball. You're not going to play a perfect game."

ceckard@umdbk.com