84 - 71 Maryland put Cal away with a 10-2 run with 10 minutes left in the 2nd half. Landon Milbourne and Eric Hayes both drained 3-point shots and Adrian Bowie sparked the Terps with two driving layups during the three and half minute period when Maryland took control of the game. Vasquez was sensational again with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists and nothing California tried worked to slow him down.
Eric Hayes chipped in 14 points on 4/9 shooting and added 5 points from the foul line. He struggled a little with the quickness of Cal's guards but overall was effective on offense.
Adrian Bowie struggled a little in the 1st half but made some critical plays in the 2nd half including two really huge offensive rebounds down the stretch (at the 7 minute and 2 minute marks) to help seal the game.
Landon Milbourne struggled on defense and committed some silly fouls but his offense was enough to help put Maryland over the top with 9 points and 5 rebounds.
As a team Maryland really played the perimeter well against Cal and held them to 29% shooting from beyond the arc. They were aggressive getting out on shooters and almost always had a hand in the face of Cal's perimeter players. I was surprised the zone gave a good shooting team like the Bears such trouble late in the game but at that point I think Cal had gotten lazy on offense and wasn't moving off the ball anymore. After a great 1st half Maryland's aggressive defense shut down Bears' point guard Jerome Randle.
One weakness in this game was that the Terps left a bunch of points at the free throw line. They missed eight free throws and shot only 66%. On the positive side they got to the free throw line 24 times, which is an absolute explosion compared to recent trends. They will have to do more of the same against Memphis.
