Set Your Tivo: 11.10.10
Posted by Brian Otskey on November 10th, 2010
***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2013
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game
Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.
The 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer continues with four games at regional sites tonight. Here’s your schedule/bracket, as well as one game you might want to check out. All times eastern.
College of Charleston @ Maryland – 7 pm on ESPNU (**)
Cremins Will Face His Old Foe Williams Tonight
You just get the feeling that this is one of those Maryland teams that Gary Williams always finds a way to overachieve with. The Terrapins, picked sixth in the ACC preseason poll, are coming off a 105-76 rout of Seattle on Monday night. Jordan Williams led the folks from College Park with 17 points and 15 rebounds on 6-10 shooting while teammate Sean Mosley led all scorers with 21 points. Maryland also received a nice lift off the bench from freshmen Terrell Stoglin (15/5 assts) and Pe’Shon Howard (8 assists/3 steals). However, the game was incredibly sloppy on both sides. Maryland committed 29 turnovers to Seattle’s 27 for an astounding total of 56 in a forty-minute game. Against College of Charleston tonight, 20+ turnovers could cause problems for the Terps. Led by former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, who led the Yellow Jackets to the 1990 Final Four, the Cougars have some key pieces back from last year’s 22-win team which knocked off #9 (at the time) North Carolina and also won at George Mason. Charleston’s leader is senior Andrew Goudelock, a contender for Southern Conference player of the year along with Noah Dahlman of Wofford. If you’ve heard of him, it’s probably because of the big time triple (28 feet away) he hit to send the game into overtime against UNC last season. Point guard Donavan Monroe (15/6 assists vs. UNC) and low post presence Jeremy Simmons (18/13 at George Mason) are the key players for Cremins’ team. Charleston averaged 75 PPG last year so you’d think they’d like to push the pace a little. For a team that scored that many points, their turnover average wasn’t bad at all last year (11.2 per game). The turnover battle is something to pay attention to tonight, especially considering what happened in Maryland’s first game. Though he led the team in turnovers last year, the loss of Greivis Vasquez may create a little uncertainty on the part of Maryland’s ball handlers early this year. A good matchup should be the one down low between Williams and Simmons. Williams has the height and weight advantage but Simmons can certainly hold his own on the glass and in the paint. If Williams has another big game, it’s hard to see Maryland losing at home even to a somewhat talented mid-major. For Charleston to pull the upset, Goudelock, Monroe and Simmons all have to be at their best. The Cougars also can’t allow Maryland to shoot over 50% from the floor as they did on Monday night. Defense, rebounding and turnover margin will be the keys for Bobby Cremins and his team if they hope to steal a road win against a storied ACC program. As for Maryland, another solid effort from the starters along with some positive contributions off the bench should be enough to earn a win.
