Maryland men’s basketball beats Washington, 64-60, behind Mills’ 21

Image courtesy of Kevin Snyder/Maryland Athletics.

Andre Mills continues to impress in his first season in College Park.

With the Terps up by just two in the waning seconds, they needed a stop. After a miss by Washington, Mills collected the rebound and drove down the court. He threw it to Guillermo del Pino, who threw it right back to Mills for an alley-oop, sending the Xfinity Center crowd into hysterics and cementing Maryland’s victory. After the dunk, Mills waved goodbye to the Husky fans in attendance.

“When I threw it, I was like, ‘he better throw the lob back’.” Mills said with a laugh. 

The redshirt freshman scored 21 points, marking the third time in the last four games he’s scored more than 20. His effort, combined with Solomon Washington’s third consecutive double-double, led Maryland men’s basketball (11-16, 4-12 Big Ten) to a 64-60 victory over Washington (13-13, 5-11 Big Ten).

“I’ve always seen it in Dre,” Washington said. “Last year he gave us problems and we were a top 10 defensive team at Texas A&M. It’s just been him playing within himself and at his pace, not being out of control and just staying within the game. Just be who he is, and this is who he is.”

The two sides were locked into a back-and-forth affair all afternoon – the game featured 13 lead changes and eight ties. The Terps led for only three more minutes than the Huskies in a matchup that quickly became a battle of attrition. 

Maryland’s victory was fueled by dominance on the glass – the Terps out-rebounded the Huskies 36-23, picking up 14 offensive rebounds to the Huskies’ two. Their success at collecting their own misses led to 16 second-chance points, which kept Maryland in the game. 

“Other than field goal attempts, rebounds are the second highest volume thing in the game,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “I thought our guys were tremendous in execution. 85 percent defensive rebound percentage, 44 percent offensive rebound percentage. It gives us a chance, because it’s the one thing that is impacted on both sides of the ball.”

Solomon Washington finished his day with 11 points and 14 rebounds – his third consecutive game with that exact stat line and his sixth double-double to date. Washington had nine more rebounds than the next closest Terp, despite needing to sit more than five minutes late in the second half due to foul trouble. 

“His energy is unlike any other,” Mills said. “I really appreciate Solo. His energy, his spirit, his heart, his passion is applaudable. I’m gonna miss him.”

Maryland was able to limit Husky forward Hannes Steinbach down low – a big key to its rebounding success. Steinbach came into the matchup leading the Big Ten in rebounds with 11.3 per game – he finished Saturday’s contest with only three. 

“We knew he’s in the top percentile in rebounding in the country, not just the Big Ten,” Washington said. “Coach stressed that we had to hit him with two people every time a shot went up. We just executed that.”

The Terps offense also had one of their most efficient games to date, turning the ball over just eight times – tied for their second-fewest in a game this season. 

Despite the success from Mills and Washington, Maryland spread the wealth on Saturday afternoon. All nine Terps players that recorded minutes scored. Elijah Saunders found his stroke from deep, connecting on four of his five three-pointers – all 12 of his points came from threes. 

“It goes into working out every day and working on the little things,” Mills said. “I’ve been working on my reads. Solo’s one of the most athletic players in the league, so I knew if he gets both feet in the paint, they’re gonna foul him or he’s gonna make it. I knew [Elijah] had a few threes early, so I was trying to find him as much as possible.”

With the season reaching its final stretch, the Terps continue to show late flashes. They’ll travel to Lincoln on Wednesday to square up with the No. 9 Nebraska Cornhuskers – a team that has struggled of late, losing four of their last seven.