CSU Drops 89-51 Contest at Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Charleston Southern tipped off the 09-10 season against an ACC member in the Maryland Terrapins Friday, at the Comcast Center, but CSU was outmatched in an 89-51 loss.  The Bucs struggled with a 29 percent shooting effort from the field to go along with 22 turnovers, despite shooting 43 percent from behind the arc.  It was the first game of the season for both squads, with CSU starting 0-1 and Maryland taking a 1-0 record.  

Jamarco Warren showed why he was a Big South Preseason All-Conference selection, tallying a team high 14 points on 4-9 shooting, including a pair of triples.  Kelvin Martin started his sophomore campaign off with nine points and eight boards, while Stanley Honorat also contributed eight points off the bench.  

CSU did manage to hold Preseason All-ACC selection Greivis Vasquez to nine points on 3-14 shooting.  Four other Terps finished in double figures however, led by Landon Milbourne with 16 points.

“I thought the first half that we played very hard and played well,” said Head Coach Barclay Radebaugh.  “I thought we competed very well offensively and defensively. Then the game got away from us a little bit in the second half. Their experience came into play, and we had a couple of costly turnovers that allowed the game to get away from us a little bit.”

CSU played tough in first half, with Warren scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first 20 minutes.  The Bucs also kept the turnover margin to just two before the intermission, trailing 37-25 at the break.

The Maryland press was more aggressive to start the second half, as the Terps used some Buccaneer miscues in a 14-5 run out of the gate.  Maryland extended their lead to 51-30 at that point and continued to roll out to a 59-32 score.  

 “I thought we made some mistakes against their press that were uncharacteristic of us,” said Radebaugh.  “Those things are easily correctable and we will take care of that. We haven’t had a problem with turnovers, and we’ll do a much better job of holding on to the ball in the games to come.”

CSU took some important teaching points and great experience from the game, despite ultimately falling by an 89-51 score.

“We had six guys playing in their first college basketball games, and to ask them to do that in front of 16,000 people, in a very hostile environment, was quite a test. Overall, I thought we handled the pressure of the crowd well, and I didn’t think that was much of a factor.”

The victory improved Maryland's record at the Comcast Center to 100-20 since the building opened in 2002.

CSU will look to get in the win column when they travel to play The Citadel Bulldogs on Tuesday, November 17, at 7:05 in McAlister Field House.