Maryland men’s basketball survives nail-biter, defeats Nicholls State, 73-67

Kevin Willard lit into his players as they trotted to the sideline after he called his second timeout in as many minutes early in the second half. The 19.5-point underdog Nicholls State Colonels had just capped off a 16-2 run to stretch their lead to nine.

Despite trailing for much of the second half, Maryland (7-4) used a late surge to survive a scare, defeating Nicholls (4-7), 73-67 in College Park on Tuesday.

It’s no mystery that poor 3-point shooting has contributed to much of Maryland’s early season struggles. Entering Tuesday, the Terps were the worst power conference 3-point shooting team in the county at 25.5 percent, but that number will climb for the second game in a row.

After shooting a season-best 14-for-30 from 3-point range in last week’s win over Alcorn State, Maryland put together another solid night from range, shooting 10-for-27. It was inside the arc where they struggled – the Terps shot just 12-for-35 (34.3 percent) on 2-point attempts. 

“We’ve got to realize that you’ve got to do some things to get yourself a bucket every once in a while,” Willard said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to get an offensive rebound, a fastbreak layup – something simple.”

Julian Reese struggled all night on the offensive end. The junior big man shot just 3-for-13 from the field and 3-for-11 from the free-throw line.

Both Reese and Willard have talked extensively about the work the Baltimore native put in at the free-throw line after shooting 53.4 percent there last season. It appeared to be paying off – Reese held the highest free throw rate in Division I with a 67.4 percent mark at the line through the first ten games. But the charity stripe bug reared its ugly head again on Tuesday.

Despite his troubles putting the ball in the basket, Reese made his presence known on the other end, where he blocked six shots. Maryland recorded 13 blocks as a team – its most in a game since 2018.

With their second-leading scorer cold from the field, Maryland needed someone else to step up.

On Tuesday, it was Donta Scott.

The fifth-year senior is posting his lowest averages in points, rebounds, and assists since his freshman year, but in his 140th career game as a Terp, Scott delivered his best performance of the season when his team needed it the most. The Philadelphia native scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“When [Nicholls] started talking trash, it just elevated me a lot more,” Scott said. “I wanted all the smoke. I wanted people to fear me. I wanted people to try to go at me on the court so they know that they can’t when I stop them.”

Nicholls was hot from the perimeter all night. The Colonels shot 12-for-22 from beyond the arc, including a 5-for-6 effort from Jalen White, the active career 3-point percentage leader in Division I. Seemingly every time Maryland started to gain momentum, Nicholls buried a three.

“I think what we saw tonight was [Nicholls head coach Tevon Saddler] had his team really ready to play,” Willard said. “They ran some things that we hadn’t seen. I think this was more about Tevon and Nichols than it was anything else.”

Saddler, the youngest head coach in Division I at 28 years old, spent last season as Maryland’s director of player personnel. 

The Colonels had all sorts of trouble scoring inside, however, against a much bigger Maryland team. As badly as the Terps struggled from 2-point range, Nicholls shot an even worse 11-for-37 (29.7 percent) from inside the arc. 

Despite a strong effort from Jamal West Jr. (14 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks), who played with Reese at St. Frances Academy, Nicholls’ size disadvantage became too much to overcome down the stretch.

Nicholls had a chance to make it a one-point game with 1:44 remaining after Jordan Geronimo fouled out to put Diante Smith on the line, but the senior forward missed the front end of a one-and-one and Jahari Long buried a corner three on the ensuing possession for what proved to be the dagger. The Terps were able to put the game away with a barrage of Jahmir Young free throws. Young finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.

Maryland will look to solve its road woes on Friday in Los Angeles, where they visit UCLA in what will become a Big Ten conference game beginning in 2024-25.