Maryland’s Myles Rice thought he had a shoe-in steal Friday night.
During his Terrapins debut against Georgetown, the Indiana transfer threw his left shoe at Vince Iwuchukwu while he was driving to the basket in an attempt to grab a steal in the first half.
Rice could be seen ready with the shoe in hand before throwing it and missing the basketball, and he was called for a foul on the play.
The Terrapins got off to a rough start in their 70-60 loss, falling behind 11-0 in the opening minutes, which caused new head coach Buzz Williams to take out four of his five starters.
Rice, a reserve guard, certainly brought a different energy after he lost his shoe in closing seconds of the first half and let it become a part of his strategy.
Iwuchukwu, who transferred from St. John’s this offseason, made one of two free throws following the foul to give Georgetown a 29-22 lead, and the Hoyas took a 32-27 lead into halftime.
It was by far the highlight of Rice’s Maryland debut, although it won’t show up on the stat sheet.
Rice, who began his career at Washington State, finished the night with 19 points and seven rebounds. He missed the team’s season-opening win against Coppin State.
Maryland fell to 1-1 with the loss and returns to the court Tuesday against Alcorn State before facing Marquette next weekend.
Rice and Maryland will face his former Indiana squad on Jan. 7.
Georgetown, meanwhile, is 2-0 after the road win, and the Hoyas host Binghamton next Wednesday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
