BLOOMINGTON, Ind. —- A little personnel note while wrapping up the analysis for the night on Maryland’s 80-68 defeat of Indiana.
Cliff Tucker did not play tonight, the first time he’s missed a game since sitting out Jan. 31 against Miami.
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Tucker was averaging 17.2 minutes. He averaged 18.3 minutes during last week’s Maui Invitational.
So why didn’t the junior play.
“Coach’s decision,” said Gary Williams, who as coach obviously made that decision.
We’ll see if there’s any more to this later in the week. But with Tucker glued to the bench (he was here at Assembly Hall), Sean Mosley played 39 minutes (a career-high), Greivis Vasquez played 36 minutes (a season-high) and Eric Hayes played 33 minutes.
Adrian Bowie was the only guard off the bench, playing 15 minutes.
Obviously, the Terps survived just fine without Tucker tonight. But having three guys who will be relied on for a lot of shooting play that many minutes in the long term usually isn’t a great bet. Unless you’re Duke.
In any case, it’s one more wrinkle to keep an eye on. As if there’s any shortage of those in College Park at any time.
—- Patrick Stevens
