American University notched its first win over Maryland since the 1926-27 season; the Eagles led for the entire second half after grabbing a 21-20 advantage just before intermission. Derrick Mercer ripped the Terps for 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting; AU improves to 7-5 and continues their month away from Bender Arena by visiting #4 Georgetown at Verizon Center Saturday.
Maryland, meanwhile, slips to 6-6 for the first time since the 1995-96 season—three straight home losses making one wonder what the problem is…
Lack of intensity on offense…Coach Gary Williams feels the team isn’t running crisp sets…and it showed early Saturday (21% shooting in the first half).
Frontcourt follies…James Gist has fouled out of back to back games and hasn’t been a factor against either Ohio or American after getting into foul trouble early. Bambale Osby scored 1 point in 15 minutes while Braxton Dupree went 1 for 4 from the field against the Eagles…Maryland was also outrebounded 40-33 by the Eagles.
Perimeter Defense…American hit 8 of 19 from three-point range with several of those long-range baskets answering surges by Maryland.
What has to be frustrating for this team is they’re less than a month removed from beating Illinois—they know there are possibilities for this squad; now they have to regroup with wins over Delaware and Savannah State before a trip to Charlotte January 5th.
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