Maryland men’s basketball dominates Minnesota, 81-46

With four minutes to spare, junior guard Jahari Long launched a three-pointer with the game already out of reach for Minnesota. 

The shot wouldn’t fall, but the Terps pulled down an offensive rebound giving them another chance to score. This time Long fired and connected, giving the Terps their largest lead of the night of 42 points. 

Maryland picked up its first road conference win of the season, defeating Minnesota 81-46. The 35-point win was the Terps largest margin of victory in a Big Ten road win ever.

Sophomore forward Julian Reese was the main factor in the dominant performance. He left his mark in all aspects, racking up 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists. His post presence generated easy baskets for the Terps throughout the game. 

“I think Julian has become a dominant inside player, he is a guy we feel very comfortable running an offense through,” coach Kevin Willard said. “I think he is playing unselfish, physical and some really good basketball.”

Although senior forward Donta Scott scored the bulk of his points in the first half, his stat line of 13 points and six rebounds aided the Terps in their victory. Junior guard Ian Martinez also pitched in with 11 including three three-pointers off the bench. 

For Minnesota, freshman forward Pharrel Payne led the way with 14 points six rebounds and three blocks. But Payne would struggle in the second half along with his teammates to generate open looks. 

In the Terps last meeting with Minnesota, junior forward Jamison Battle scored a career-high 39 points at the XFINITY Center March 2. Tonight Battle was held in check, scoring just five points.

“We definitely made him a key of emphasis on the defensive end,” Reese said about Battle. “Last year he had a good game against us, shot good. I feel like we took care of business with that and that was the key to our win.”

Sophomore forward Dawson Garcia was ruled out in pregame warmups nursing a bone bruise. Garcia was the Golden Gophers leading scorer and rebounder coming into the contest, averaging 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds despite missing his fourth straight game. 

In the first three and a half minutes, Maryland started out shooting 100% from the field making its first three shots off of assists. The Terps have struggled to pass the ball this season, sitting last in assists per game in the conference, averaging 10.9, but tonight was off to a different start. 

Maryland quickly got rolling and jumped out to a ten-point lead with 12:30 to play in the first half. As a team, they were shooting 8-11 from the field and boasted a 9-2 run in the early minutes.

“That was our thought process,” Willard said. “We wanted to come out and really defend at a high level and then offensively, just get the ball moving side-to-side.”

Payne scored the first eight points for Minnesota and another Golden Gopher didn’t score until nine minutes into the game. 

Scott was leading the offensive attack for the Terps. In nine minutes played, he recorded 11 points in 11 minutes and started 2-2 from the three-point line.

Maryland continued its hot start and could not be contained from beyond the arc. Coming into the game, the Terps were shooting 30.4% from three, ranking last in the Big Ten. However, 14 minutes in, they were shooting 5-7 following back-to-back threes by Martinez. 

With under six minutes to play in the first, the Terps scavenged a 22-point lead but Minnesota kept its morale high. Minnesota rallied a small 6-0 run forcing  Willard to call a timeout after junior guard Ta’lon Cooper found Payne for a dunk off a no-look pass. 

However, Maryland would regain the momentum heading into the half with a small run of their own. Reese and Scott were both in double figures and graduate student Jahmir Young found his rhythm scoring seven points in just under six minutes.

Turnovers sabotaged Minnesota’s offense as they recorded nine in the first half. Maryland recorded six steals en route to 13 points off turnovers to Minnesota’s zero. 

Payne entered the half with a game-high 12 points but the Golden Gophers struggled to find offensive production outside of the young big man. All other players combined for nine and Minnesota trailed 41-21 at halftime. 

The Terps continued their dominance in the first three minutes of the second half, as they notched an 11-0 run. Senior guard Don Carey converted on a four-point play handing the Terps a 30-point lead. 

Five minutes in, Maryland was on a 15-2 run due to their transition offense, red-hot shooting and production from several different Terps.

With 9:52 to go Reese was piecing together one of his best performances of the season. He was getting it done, scoring, rebounding, assisting for the Terps, and doing it efficiently. Heading into the matchup, Reese was second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage shooting 64.7% from the field. 

Minnesota’s thin lineup struggled to keep up with Maryland’s depth and with six minutes remaining, the Terps were on cruise control. 

Willard emptied his bench late as the Terps cruised to the end, downing the Gophers in a dominant rout.

Maryland dominated in all aspects of the game from start to finish, guiding the Terps to their fourth win in a row. Minnesota’s inability to get anything going on the offensive end and their poor ball security hampered them throughout. Maryland advanced to 7-5 in conference play this season. 

“It’s definitely a great feeling, we got to keep this mentality going into Michigan State and on the road for future games,” Reese said. “I feel like this is just a great start.”