Terps keep good times rolling

In an ACC marked by parity, the Terrapin men’s basketball team is quickly emerging as the conference bully.

On the heels of a 24-point win against N.C. State, the Terps blitzed Miami 81-59 in a game that was well in hand minutes into the second half at Comcast Center last night.

The Terps, who earned back-to-back 20-plus point conference wins for the first time since 2003, jumped into the ACC’s top spot for the time being, pending Virginia’s home contest tomorrow against Virginia Tech.

“Every team is pretty even [in the ACC,]” said guard Sean Mosley, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. “It all depends who wants it more. Right now, we’re playing hard and together as a team.”

Guard Greivis Vasquez tied forward Landon Milbourne with a game-high 16 points and added nine assists. Milbourne’s 7-for-10 shooting performance led a balanced onslaught that included six other Terps who scored at least eight points. And the Terps clamped down by turning 17 Miami turnovers into 20 points and holding the bigger Hurricanes to 38 percent shooting from the field.

The Terps (14-5, 4-1 ACC) exploded out of the gate on a 12-2 run, using a potent press that garnered six first-half steals and took a 17-point lead into halftime.

By the time the Alexandria Aces Basketball Performance Team, a group of youngsters showing off flashy basketball tricks, delighted the sold-out crowd between halves, the Terps were well on their way to their third straight double-digit conference win and sixth win in seven games.

“We just came to play, man,” said Vasquez, who vaulted past Lonny Baxter into sixth place on the Terps’ career scoring list. “We came to play and win this game. We were trying to be aggressive.”

Even with a week to prepare, the Hurricanes (15-5, 1-5 ACC) were no match for the streaking Terps.

Miami, which didn’t start a pair of projected starters — leading scorer Dwayne Collins and Adrian Thomas — buckled under the Terp pressure early and then struggled to shoot as the Terps salted the game away. The Hurricanes, who have dropped to the bottom of the conference after running through their nonconference schedule undefeated, converted just 10-of-31 second-half shots after an 8-for-16 first half.

Meanwhile, Collins never got on track. The Terps used scheme similar to the one which succeeded against N.C. State’s Tracy Smith, to hold the Miami big man to five points with three turnovers in 24 minutes.

“I think we just having fun, flying around out there in our pressure defense,” said Mosley of the high energy defense that has held three straight ACC foes to less than 65 points. “When guys get steals, we get the crowd into the game. We have the momentum on our side.”

And for the second straight game, the Terps showed an ability to pull away and avoid the tight back-and-forth games that have marked early ACC play.

Coach Gary Williams said he thought back to last season, when his team blew a 17-point second-half lead against the Hurricanes to lose in Coral Gables, Fla.

This time, his team showed patience to grow its lopsided halftime advantage. In all, 19 of the Terps’ 28 field goals were assisted. They shot 55 percent in the second half en route to topping the 50 percent mark for the second straight game (50.9 percent overall).

All five starters watched from the bench in the closing minutes as the crowd urged seldom-used forwards David Pearman and Ersin Levent to chuck up three-point attempts.

“We played very smart with a lead this time,” Williams said.

Most importantly, heading into a two-game conference road trip, the Terps continued to defend their home court, feeding off the home crowd to continue their best conference start since 2003.

Williams shrugged off a question about how good the team can be if they can prolong this stellar run, while the players talked about focusing on the 11 conference games remaining rather than their impressive wins.

Still, the team appears to have latched onto a blueprint for ACC success.

“I just want to keep playing well,” Williams said. “I think that’s the key in the league this year. It’s not to have the big let down.”

edetweiler@umdbk.com