Men's basketball gives No. 4 Maryland serious scare before succumbing in second half

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Against No. 4 Maryland (5-1) in the seventh annual BT&T Classic, Princeton (1-4) showed what everyone hoped and knew it could do — play top Division I basketball. At the MCI Center in downtown D.C. yesterday, the Tigers took on Lonnie Baxter and the Terps and hung in for all but the last seven minutes of the game.

At times, Princeton looked brilliant, managing to build a 14-point lead at several points in the first half. Through most of the second half, though, they were very off, and were outscored 38-17 en route to a 61-53 loss.

"During the first half, they were as good as any team we've played this year," Maryland head coach Gary Williams said. "We have a good gameplan. We just didn't execute it."

"We came out and did what we wanted to do," senior guard Ahmed El-Nokali said.

With normal guard pressure, Maryland could not stop the three. Princeton made its first three attempts from behind the arc, including one from senior guard Ahmed El-Nokali from six feet behind the arc. When the pressure was transferred up top, the Tigers executed the backdoor pass for the easy two — textbook Princeton offense.

On defense, Princeton was able to hold Maryland to 23 points in the first half. The last time the Terps had scored that few points was in the 1999 NCAA tournament against St. John's.

The one shining light in the first half for Maryland was Lonnie Baxter. Whenever he got the ball, he was nearly automatic. Baxter finished the game with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and, except for the backdoor passes, very much controlled the flow underneath.

When he got his third foul and the Tigers went up by a maximum of fourteen before the end of the break, Princeton looked to be in a no-lose situation.

But in the second half, that's exactly what they did.

No single play beat the Tigers at the end. Sometimes a transition two would bring the Terps a little closer. Sometime, Maryland would hit a three to Princeton's two, and at other times, the Tigers fouled Maryland for the three point play.

The point is that it was a methodical comeback by Maryland.

With 11 minutes left, the Terps were within eight. After a couple free throws, Maryland clawed within 4 with nine minutes left.

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The Tigers did not hit the threes, and the Terps pulled ahead with a little more than five minutes left in the game.

Wysocki tied the game with a dunk — the first dunk for the Tigers in two years — but Maryland hit a three pointer immediately afterward and had solid foul shooting down the stretch to finish Princeton off.

The main reason for Maryland's comeback was that at halftime the Terps learned how to defend the Princeton offense. They were able to apply pressure to the men behind the arc while guarding the backdoor pass. Because of Maryland's defensive adjustments, Princeton was able to post up more often, but it did not matter as Maryland's size and strength kept Princeton from dropping the ball in the basket once the Tigers got close.

"They made a conscious effort to extend the threes," head coach John Thompson '88 said.

Princeton shot 11 for 26 in the second half, 0 for 4 from behind the arc.

Second, Maryland's guards were more aggressize with the full court pressure. The Terps' Juan Dixon was one of the main forces behind the pressure, finishing the game off with a BT&T Classic record six steals.

Third, Princeton's big men got into foul trouble down the stretch, forcing the team to play more tentatively on defense, allowing Maryland more room to post up and turn for a shot. Also on the game, the Terps got 16 offensive rebounds compared to Princeton's seven. On second chance points, Maryland outscored Princeton 21-7.

"Our big guys got in foul trouble, and we were tentative defensively," Thompson said. "Once [sophomore center] Konrad Wysocki and [freshman center] Dominick Martin were in foul trouble, they were able to take advantage of us."