BALTIMORE _ Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon was justifiably concerned about his team's matchup with Loyola Chicago in the featured game of the Charm City College Classic on Saturday at Royal Farms Arena.
The concerns _ stemming from the quick turnaround both mentally and physically from Thursday's two-point loss at Purdue in the Big Ten road opener _ grew when his two big men got into early foul trouble and the No. 23 Terps fell behind early.
It took Maryland's smallest player, junior Anthony Cowan Jr., to help quell his coach's fear and overcome the slow start. Led by Cowan's 17 points, the Terps erased the memories of their disappointing trip to Mackey Arena with a 55-41 victory over the Ramblers, who made an unlikely run to the Final Four last season.
Cowan, who had a last-second 3-pointer blocked in Maryland's 62-60 loss to the Boilermakers, got off to a slow start Saturday. With Maryland trailing by five with seven minutes to go in the first half, Cowan and freshman guard Eric Ayala keyed a 15-2 run to take the lead and control.f
Freshman wing Aaron Wiggins added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. Limited to just six minutes and only two points in the first half, sophomore center Bruno Fernando finished with eight points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals for Maryland (8-2).
Loyola (5-5) continued its tough early-season schedule, and did so with a couple of key players out with injuries. Sophomore center Cameron Krutwig led the Ramblers with 12 points _ only four in the second half _ and eight rebounds.
The Terps did a great job defensively on Loyola's two main scorers, redshirt seniors Marques Townes and Clayton Custer, who each scored nine points and combined to shoot 7 for 23 from the field, including 2 for 11 on 3-pointers.
