Resurgent Bowie delivers best performance of early season

When informed he hadn't committed a turnover Friday night against Elon, Adrian Bowie was seemingly incredulous.

Then, he cracked a smile and savored his achievement.

"Oh, I didn't? Thank God," the Terrapin men's basketball guard said. "I'm so happy."

Even as forward Jordan Williams received much of the attention for his second-half dominance in the Terps' 76-57 win, Bowie quietly helped the Terps avert disaster against Elon in recording what was one of the most impressive stat lines of his career.

Hounding Elon's guards with full-court pressure and smoothly running the offense, Bowie managed 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and, most importantly, no turnovers.

"[I'm] just not trying to do too much," Bowie said. "When someone is open in transition, I try to give them the ball, and when in doubt, always go inside."

Having scored in double digits the past two games, Bowie is beginning to climb out of an early-season slump during which he saw freshman counterparts Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard enjoy early success with clutch shots and prominent late-game roles.

Bowie recorded just 12 minutes in the Terps' season opener against Seattle and was conspicuously absent from the floor in the waning moments of the team's narrow victory over College of Charleston, which Howard clinched with a last-minute shot.

Despite Bowie's high turnover rate — his 20 this season are already just six short of last season's total — coach Gary Williams had refused to displace his senior from the starting lineup. His patience was rewarded Friday, as Bowie ran the floor fluidly and efficiently and sparked the defense in the second half.

"The defense was good enough for us to win the game. I thought Adrian Bowie had a lot to do with that," Williams said. "He really sparked us defensively, was aggressive with the basketball. … I was really proud of what he did tonight."

Along with the rest of the Terps' starters, Bowie played the majority of the second half as the team dug itself out of an early double-digit deficit. He recorded a team-high 35 minutes as Stoglin and Howard combined for just six in the second half.

"I always think Adrian can make plays for us," guard Sean Mosley said. "He's a tough guard to stay in front of. He's the point guard, he's the leader."

For the first time all season, Williams didn't shuffle in younger players for much of the second half. Bowie, Mosley, guard Cliff Tucker and Jordan Williams all played at least 17 of the 20 second-half minutes, and forward James Padgett was the lone reserve to see more than five minutes of action after intermission.

"I told the starters at halftime that they're the veteran players, the guys that have to pick us up and carry us," Gary Williams said. "So when they came out playing well, I was going to play them as long as I could before we substituted."

The Terps face a crucial pair of looming nonconference games against Penn State and Temple, and Williams is likely to stick with his starters through much of those contests.

And with the confidence accompanying a near triple-double performance, Bowie is again relishing the role of leading the Terps.

"We're going to have to set the tempo for our team," Bowie said. "We're going to have to rely on each other, and Coach will have to rely on us as well."

ceckard@umdbk.com