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| Terps Make It 7 In A
Row |
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| By: Chad Capellman |
| Date: December 10, 2001 |
The Maryland men's basketball team had nearly a week
between games, but for Byron Mouton it undoubtedly seemed more
than that.
The senior forward rejoined the team a day
after attending the funeral of his brother Kevin in Louisiana,
and scored a season-high 13 points Sunday night as the Terps
rolled over Detroit, 79-54 before 14,327 at Cole Field House.
Lonny Baxter led the Terps for the third straight
game, scoring a game-high 17 points as four players scored in
double figures. The victory was the seventh straight for the
Terps (7-1) and extended the nation's longest non-conference
home winning streak to 81 games.
"Sometimes when you
get back to a comfortable situation, you just relax a little
bit," said Maryland Coach Gary Williams about Mouton's play.
"It was great to have him back. He went through a pretty tough
four days in Louisiana. Byron just played like Byron."
Mouton, who returned to College Park about 1:30 a.m.
Sunday morning, came off the bench with 13:22 remaining in the
first half. He received a loud ovation of support from the
Terrapin faithful, and seemed to reciprocate the good will
gesture with two quick baskets, including a tough baseline
jumper, to give the Terps a 19-7 lead. Maryland raced out to a
29-11 lead and never led by less than 15 points for most of
the game.
"Most of my shots are off-balance shots, and
I never see myself taking a wide-open shot, because normally I
have to create my own shot. To make my first shot, it felt
really good after being off for four or five days."
Tahj Holden had a solid game on both ends of the
floor, scoring 14 points including making 2 of 3 three-point
attempts, and a career-high six blocked shots. Holden, who has
29 points in his last two games, could relate to what Mouton
was going through, and was happy to have him back with the
team.
"I know when my grandfather died, it was one of
those things where you just wanted to get back to the
basketball court as fast as you could. Byron's that type of
player where he's going to come back and give you 100 percent.
[Practice this week] was a little quieter ... cause he usually
provides some laughter. It was tough because we knew why he
wasn't with us. I think us playing together a lot helped us
out this week."
Mouton returned to his home in Rayne,
La., following the Terps' victory over Connecticut Monday in
the BB&T Classic and said he never thought about not
playing against Detroit. But that's not to say that returning
to College Park was easy.
"It's been tough ... It was
very emotional, to come back. To leave home, my mom's all
alone," said Mouton, who had stayed in Maryland for
Thanksgiving and had not been home since the summer. "These
guys, took me in and gave me support, and I really appreciate
that.
"(The fan support) is very important, because
when you go through something like that, you're always looking
for somebody to be on your side to get you back. It put a
smile on my face."
NOTES; The Terps continued to
improve on their early-season free-throw shooting woes, making
17 of 24 attempts to mark the first time this season they have
shot better than 70 percent from the line in back-to-back
games.
Maryland next faces Monmouth on Tuesday night
at 8 p.m. at Cole Field House before their layoff for
exams.
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