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Maryland shot a ton of perimeter jumpers in its opening exhibition win

Mark Turgeon

Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon reacts to defeating Denver 62-52 in the second-round game in the NIT college basketball tournament in College Park, Md., Thursday, March 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

AP

Exhibition games often don’t show a lot when it comes to the upcoming season -- in terms of anything unique with style of play or shortened regular-season rotations -- but it did offer a glimpse into a new-look Maryland team on Saturday.

After losing five players to transfer this offseason, the fresh-faced Terps showed off a heavy perimeter shooting game in Saturday’s exhibition win over Division II San Francisco State, according to Don Markus of The Baltimore Sun.

Maryland made 14 of 27 three-pointers on Saturday night, with the 14 made three-point attempts being the highest mark the team has had in a game since a school record of 17 in 2006. Overall, 27 of the Terrapins’ 44 field-goal attempts were three pointers on Saturday night.

Without much of a true post presence this season, this could be an emerging trend for Mark Turgeon’s team this season. Maryland brought in a recruiting class that can really space the floor and some of the new freshmen had strong performances from the perimeter on Saturday night.

Melo Trimble (4-for-8 from three), Jared Nickens (4-for-8) and Dion Wiley (3-for-4) all shot it well from the perimeter in the opening exhibition and Maryland will likely give them all the green light this season.

Not that Maryland will get this many clean perimeter looks in the regular season -- San Francisco State played what Markus described as a “sagging 2-3 zone” for much of the game -- but this at least gives the Terps a distinct look this season that opponents will have to scout for.

Surely, the Terps will drive more during some games and look to feed the post, but starting big man Damonte Dodd is known more as a defender and Michal Cekovsky is a freshman with a steep learning curve. If Maryland wants to have a very successful season, they might not need to shoot over 50 percent from three-point range like they did on Saturday, but a healthy dose of threes each game certainly wouldn’t hurt.

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