Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said recently he isn't comfortable with his 10-player rotation. For cohesion purposes, he rather would use eight, which begs the question: Who's out?
In Saturday's 70-53 win over Georgia Southern, Turgeon got no closer to paring down his lineup as his five reserves played more minutes (109) than the starters (91).
One candidate for a permanent seat on the bench seemed to be senior Logan Aronhalt, who has averaged only nine minutes a game, at least four less than every other player in the rotation.
But against Georgia Southern, Aronhalt showed he might be one of Turgeon's more valuable weapons. On a night when his teammates made one of 12 shots from beyond the arc, Aronhalt hit four of four. Afterward, Turgeon credited the hard work of the Albany transfer, saying he heard Aronhalt was in the gym at 8 that morning.
"It was 10 [o'clock]," Aronhalt admitted with a smile. "I can't lie."
But he can shoot.
With his perfect balance and clean stroke, Aronhalt has made more 3-pointers (seven) in 11 attempts than starting guards Pe'Shon Howard, Nick Faust and Dez Wells have made (six) in 30 tries. With it becoming more clear that Maryland's strength lies inside, the Terps can expect to see more zones and collapsing defenses. The best antidote will be a 3-point threat.
"He stretches the defense," Turgeon said. "When Logan's hitting shots you see them getting the ball inside a little easier, and we can score a little bit easier."
- Kevin Dunleavy
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