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Maryland Basketball: Joshua Tomaic excelled in only start of tournament

By Chris Bengel

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins reacts against the Richmond Spiders in the first half during the Barclays Center Classic at Barclays Center on November 25, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins reacts against the Richmond Spiders in the first half during the Barclays Center Classic at Barclays Center on November 25, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Maryland teammates Joshua Tomaic and Kevin Huerter met in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup on Sunday.

The United States came away with a 96-72 win in the bronze medal game, but Tomaic outshined Huerter in his only start of the entire tournament.

Huerter finished with just for points and five rebounds in Sunday’s game. On the other hand, Tomaic scored nine points (4-of-12 shooting), grabbed six rebounds, and recorded three steals.

The United States really got off to a hot start as they took a 25-8 lead to start off the game. However, Tomaic did get Spain on the scoreboard with six of his team’s first eight points.

It was highlighted by a resounding slam dunk in the low post with 31 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Aside from that, there weren’t many highlights for Tomaic or the Spaniards in general for the remainder of the first half.

One of the most impressive plays of the day was when Tomaic missed a three-pointer. Immediately after the miss, he attacked the rim and got the tip-in after a teammate had originally failed to tip in the long-range miss.

Tomaic certainly doesn’t appear to be afraid to hoist up his shot when he has the room. However, he did only attempt 1.7 three-point shots per contest, which shows that he knows his limitations.

Given his size, he likely projects as a small/power forward at the collegiate level. That makes a lot of sense given that Turgeon often likes versatile players given his story with players like Huerter, Justin Jackson, and Jake Layman being tweeners.

It appears that it was a strong decision by Tomaic to sit out the 2016-17 season. He got to learn with the scout team and now gained an abundance of experience playing against some of the best young players in the world.

He ended up averaging 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds during the tournament. Tomaic also played double-digit minutes in all but one contest.

Given that Maryland lost a few key veterans in Melo Trimble and Damonte Dodd, players like Tomaic and potentially freshman Fernando could see minutes off the bench.

Fernando was also supposed to play in the international tournament, but had to miss it due to college coursework.

Tomaic wasn’t one of the Terps’ most high-profile recruits in the star-studded 2016 class, but he’s definitely going to be a name to keep an eye on throughout the 2017-18 campaign.