LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. _ Coming into his senior year, Anthony Cowan Jr. promised to lead a nationally-ranked Maryland men's basketball team heaped with a ton of expectations better than he had the past two seasons.
After starting the season with a string of five straight blowouts against mid-major competition, the No. 5 Terps needed Cowan to carry them for most of Thursday's opening-round game against Temple (4-1) in the Orlando Invitational at the HP Field House. And Cowan needed some help down the stretch from some teammates who had been quiet for much of the afternoon.
Cowan finished with a career-high 30 points, including 20 in the second half, as Maryland (6-0) overcame a big early deficit and a few smaller deficits in the second half to beat the Owls, 76-69, to advance to Friday's semifinals between the winner of Thursday's second game between Harvard and Texas A&M. Sophomore guard Eric Ayala added 13 points, and sophomore forward Jalen Smith had 12 points and nine rebounds.
