Maryland’s Terrell Stoglin and Nick Faust needed to become better teammates. Stoglin was asked to by coach Mark Turgeon as the team prepared for the ACC tournament. Faust had to because of an injury to point guard Pe’Shon Howard earlier this year.
The duo worked well together in a 82-60 dismantling of Wake Forest on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the ACC tournament at Philips Arena. Eighth-seeded Maryland (17-14) will face top-seeded North Carolina (27-4) at noon Friday in the second round. The Tar Heels swept the Terrapins in their two meetings this season.
“That’s the best, most complete game we’ve played all year: We defended, we rebounded, we executed, we shared the ball,” Turgeon said.
Faust, a freshman who has started since Howard’s injury, added a career-high 19 points, while James Padgett added 10 points for the Terps, who shot a season-high 54.4 percent. The Terrapins were so dominant they opened a season-high 29-point lead in the second half against the overmatched Deacons.
The game was the Terps’ most lopsided ACC tournament victory since they dispatched FSU by 26 in the 2006 quarterfinals in Charlotte.
“I was more of a passive person at the beginning of the season,” Faust said. “Toward the end of the season I started to mature. I had no choice. I had to do well for the team. It’s turning out good for the team.”
Stoglin, a sophomore, scored 25 points, including nine with two assists during a key run in the second half, and tied a career-high with seven rebounds. He scored the most points for Maryland in the ACC tourney since John Gilchrist scored 30 in the semifinals of the 2004 tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
“I just wanted to do anything I could to help us win,” said Stoglin, who tied for a team-high four of the Terps’ 18 assists. “Coach talked to me on the plane about being a better teammate and getting my teammates involved, and I wanted to do that today.”
The Deacons kept the game close until Stoglin keyed 20-2 run early in the second half. He had assists to Padgett and Faust, before making a 3-pointer and making three free throws after being fouled on another 3-pointer on the next possession.
He capped it with another 3-pointer before Faust hit Alex Len for a dunk and free throw. Padgett added a layup and Ashton Pankey a hook, and the Terrapins were looking ahead to the Tar Heels.
The Deacons struggled to get any points from anyone other than C.J. Harris, Travis McKie and Nikita Mescheriakov. The trio combined to score all but eight of the team’s points.
“They just wore on us, and it took its toll on us, and that was the ballgame,” Wake Forest (13-18) coach Jeff Bzdelik said.
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