Trending
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Ross Hodge spoke the obvious on Sunday. The WVU men's basketball coach had no other choice following Maryland's 90-81 overtime exhibition victory inside the Xfinity Center.
"Ultimately, I felt like it was their physicality with (Pharrel) Payne and (Andre) Mills," Hodge said. "Their physicality, their ability to play to our chin and our chest collapsed our defense. We couldn't play with the foul and when we could get them to miss, we couldn't get any rebounds."
That basically told a large part of how the Terrapins were able to erase a 19-point deficit and turn things around in the second half.
Payne and Mills combined for 53 points and 21 rebounds, with 28 points coming in the second half and overtime.
For Payne, it was a return to grace for the 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forward after missing most of last season with a lower leg injury.
"How he went about that injury has led to what he looks like now," Maryland head coach Buzz Williams said. "He's got the lowest percent of body fat for a man of that size that I've ever been around. His skill is dramatically different."
And he constantly found a way to get to the ball, whether that was powering his way on a drive, catching lob passes or grabbing offensive rebounds.
Teamed up with Mills, the two paved the way for Maryland to grab 24 offensive rebounds and score 26 second-chance points.
"Their physicality was great," Hodge said. "You feel it."
And WVU's group of forwards, whether that was Mouhamed Sylla - a transfer from Georgia Tech - or highly-recruited freshman Amadou Seini or returning starter Brenen Lorient were a step off their game.
The silver lining is the regular season isn't until Nov. 2. This result will do nothing to WVU's RPI numbers or KenPom ranking. This was simply an opportunity for WVU to get out on the road, get under the lights and see what exactly they had to work with.
As for early observations:
** Hodge didn't hesitate to showcase his team's depth. By the time the exhibition was just four minutes old, Hodge had already played nine guys. He stuck with that rotation of nine players - WVU's starting five, as well as Seini, Martin Somerville, Seydou Traore and Javan Buchanan off the bench - throughout most of the game.
** There were stages where WVU held onto the ball and other stages where turnovers became a major issue. The Mountaineers had just one turnover in the first half, but finished with 14 for the game.
"We had 13 turnovers in the second half," Hodge said. "That's not a recipe for success."
** Last season, Honor Huff electrified WVU crowds by sinking 25-foot (and beyond) 3-point shots. Bizjack nailed two in the first half that were well beyond 23-feet.
More than anything else, though, it was an exhibition of how easy the Mountaineers can make things look when things are going well and also just how much they can struggle when the momentum isn't on their side.
"You're not really coming out of this with new messaging, just a reinforcement of the messaging, and what happens when you play it right and what happens when you play it wrong," was the way Hodge put it.
There was good to go with the bad. Bizjack poured in 25 points for the Mountaineers and he was 5 of 8 from 3-point range. In his first college game, highly-recruited point guard Miles Sadler had 16 points and four assists, but he also added four turnovers and committed his fifth foul in the overtime.
WVU also saw Somerville - a native of nearby Bowie, Md. - come off the bench to score 13 points.
"We take away some good, obviously some bad," Hodge said. "It was a great experience and we'll learn a lot."