LAHAINA, HAWAII - Throughout the Terrapin basketball team’s early season schedule, coach Gary Williams has been hesitant to talk about suspended forward Dino Gregory.
It took until last week for the 21st-year Terp coach to announce a Dec. 12 return date for the junior who would’ve stepped into the starting spot vacated by Dave Neal.
It was easy to forget about Gregory as the No. 22 Terps racked up blowout wins to start the season. But after the Terps were outmuscled by Cincinnati 69-57 on Tuesday in the second round of the Maui Invitational, Gregory was clearly not far from Williams’ mind.
“Our young guys inside, both [James] Padgett and Jordan Williams learned a lot today,” Gary Williams said without naming Gregory. “That’s part of the deal. We’re going to be a good team because Dec. 12 we get to be full strength.”
Against the beefy and athletic Bearcats, the Terps (4-1) were outrebounded 47-33, as 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward Yancy Gates dominated inside with 17 points and 13 boards.
Former Terp recruiting target Lance Stephenson added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Cincinnati (4-0), which has knocked off two ranked opponents to start the tournament, managed 34 points in the paint in a game it never led by less than seven points in the second half.
Even with guard Greivis Vasquez’s season-high 19 points on 5-of-17 shooting, the Terps, who shot 35.8 percent overall, never mustered a legitimate comeback charge.
“You play a team as good as Cincinnati and you don’t shoot the ball decently when you have the looks that you’re used to making, you’re in trouble,” Williams said.
His players were not made available for comment.
But the coming reinforcements didn’t matter against the Bearcats, who took charge in the middle of the first half and scored just enough to keep the Terps, who were hamstrung by foul trouble to forwards Jordan Williams and Landon Milbourne, from sniffing a comeback.
After Padgett’s follow slam with 9:28 remaining in the first half, the Terps didn’t score again until Vasquez’s free throws more than six minutes later. In that time, Cincinnati used a 14-0 run to take an 11-point lead. The Terps had just one field goal in the half after Vasquez’s free throws.
A bad half got worse when it ended on an unlikely buzzer-beater. Stephenson hoisted a shot toward the hoop that was altered by Terp Cliff Tucker, and teammate Dion Dixon swooped in to grab the ball and flick in a quick shot as the horn went off for a 31-18 halftime lead.
Stephenson and Deonta Vaughn combined to outscore the Terps by themselves in the first half, 19-18.
“We can’t play that way in the first half,” said Williams, who was pleased with his team’s intensity after halftime.
The Terps’ pressure defense and ability to get to the line in the second half allowed them to hang around. They created 11 second-half turnovers, leading to 11 points. And they took advantage of the Bearcats’ physical style to earn 25 free throws.
But missing 11 free throws and several layups while yielding several fast-break dunks when their press failed, doomed the Terps.
“When you’re behind by 13 or whatever, you can’t afford any mistakes,” Williams said. “You have to play almost perfect when you have situations where you can score.”
Monday, Bearcat coach Mick Cronin described his team as “aggressive guys who play aggressive.” And the Terps, as they’re currently constructed, couldn’t match it.
“They’re learning, so there’s some positives to that,” said Williams of his freshman big men, who combined for 13 points and 14 rebounds. “But I’d like to have our full team here also.”
edetweiler@umdbk.com
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