No. 7 Terps press out an easy victory

Maryland forward Keith Booth (26 points) and a stifling full-court press lead the Terps to a 30-point victory. BALTIMORE, Md. -- Baltimore is where they shoot the TV show Homicide -- and for good reason, as there was another killing last night. Maryland, ranked No. 7 in the latest Associated Press poll, routed Penn, 103-73, at a raucous, sold-out Baltimore Arena. The Quakers held tough for much of the first half, but the Terrapins, fresh off a win against then-No. 2 Wake Forest pulled away at the end of the first half and continued their surge in the second. Leading the way for Maryland were forwards Keith Booth (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Rodney Elliot (22 points). "We stepped up our competition, and we will get better from it," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I can't say that I am pleased with losing by 30 to an outstanding basketball team, but I'm pleased that we are learning from it." Penn (5-7) has been learning for much of the season as it has been playing the part of the Washington Generals to various Harlem Globetrotter-esque opponents. Maryland (16-2) was the third top-10 opponent for the Quakers, an unbelievably tough set of foes for a green Ivy League team. But Dunphy rejected the notion that playing such a challenging schedule was detrimental to his team's development. "I'm grateful for the schedule we have and the opportunities we have," Dunphy said. "That's what life is about." Bright spots for the Quakers included the play of Jed Ryan (17 points) and the efforts of Penn's two highly-touted guards, Michael Jordan and Matt Langel, who both chipped in for 11 points. In fact, the entire team shot well, 51.9 percent from the field, 38. 1 percent from behind the three-point arc, and 90 percent from the charity stripe. But turnovers, 31 in all, killed the Quakers, and enabled Maryland to open up a big lead. "We turned the ball over five or six times straight and with this much firepower going against you, you just can't do that," Dunphy said. "You have got to play better." In the first half, Maryland jumped out to an early 10-0 lead before sophomore forward Paul Romanczuk went up strong for a lay-up to put the Quakers on the board. After that, Penn seemed to settle into its game, going on a mini 8-4 run, capped off by a Matt Langel three-pointer. The Terrapins lead was cut to 14-10 and the contest remained competitive for much of the half. A long jump shot by Penn freshman center Geoff Owens made the score 33-27 with six minutes, four seconds left in the opening half. But then Maryland -- largely on the efforts of Booth (16 first half points) and Elliot (12 first half points) -- pulled away. By the time the first half was over, Maryland's lead was 47-34. "Penn does a lot of things with their offense -- that made it tough for us," Terrapins coach Gary Williams said. "Tonight, it was important to stop their perimeter game. Their offense has a lot of movement." He added, "They played a lot of good teams early. They haven't ducked anybody. That's going to make them a good team come February."

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