Stoglin helps Maryland hold on against Notre Dame Maryland made it harder than necessary down the stretch. But another superlative night from Terrell Stoglin combined with key supporting contributions helped the Terrapins earn a 78-71 win over reeling Notre Dame in the BB&T Classic at Verizon Center.
“I was kind of glad it was close for these guys, that they made a run at us, made us a bit nervous and we had to make plays,” Terps coach Mark Turgeon said after his BB&T debut. “I think that did more for us than winning by 10 or 12 easily or 14. That’ll probably help us more down the road.”
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After dribbling out of a wild scramble in the lane with an offensive rebound and a four-point lead over the Fighting Irish (5-4), Stoglin capped of a 31-point night, one short of his career high, by nailing a leaning 15-foot jumper with 22.0 seconds remaining to put Notre Dame away in front of the crowd of 10,714.
“I was happy because I had a great game,” Stoglin said. “But my teammates had great games. That was the key tonight.”
Stoglin, who scored 11 of Maryland’s first 12 points, finished the contest 11-for-20 from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
“He’s like World B. Free, man,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “He’s like the microwave of College Park.”
The Terps (4-3) also welcomed much-needed veteran performances from guard Sean Mosley and forward James Padgett, which stood in stark contrast to the Irish, who are in search of an identity after losing preseason All-Big East selection Tim Abromaitis to a season-ending knee injury.
Mosley twice dove on the floor for loose balls and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc on the way to a well-rounded 17 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Padgett finished with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Notre Dame leaned on a solid homecoming from Maryland natives Jerian Grant (20 points) and Eric Atkins (16 points). Grant, a DeMatha alum, made his first area appearance with his father, former Washington Bullets player Harvey Grant, lurking just beyond the baseline and the Notre Dame bench.
After taking a five-point lead into halftime, Maryland got its first double-digit lead — its largest lead of the game — off a Stoglin 3-pointer that made the score 51-40 before Grant’s three-point play sparked a 14-4 run to close Notre Dame within one. Stoglin and Mosley combined on three consecutive trips down the floor to push the lead back to 10 points only to see Atkins and Pat Connaughton each hit 3-pointers to cut the margin to 73-69.
Mosley ended a stretch of three missed free throws by hitting the second of a pair at the line before Stoglin put the game out of reach.
“I think guys are starting to figure out the right things to do down the stretch,” Mosley said. “I think we’re starting to do little things slowly but surely. But we still got some things to work on.”
