Maryland men’s basketball uses offensive domination to defeat Minnesota, 88-70

Hakim Hart was doing it all for the Terps in front of a home crowd at the Xfinity Center. Pestering Minnesota all night, he stood in a passing lane and waited for Ta’Lon Cooper to make his move. He zipped a pass that was deflected off Hart’s hand, leading to a breakaway dunk to regain a 21-point lead.

Maryland men’s basketball defeated Minnesota 88-70, stretching its record to 12 straight-wins in conference play at home. Hart filled up the stat sheet with 20 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals.

“I like the fact that he’s [Hakim Hart] shooting the ball with confidence,” coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s found his confidence in shooting the basketball and that’s helped us. Its opened up driving lanes for him.”

Sophomore forward Julian Reese recorded a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and anchored the dominant Terps defense with two blocks. Senior forward Donta Scott responded after a poor shooting performance against Nebraska with a great night of scoring. He finished with 18 points to go along with five boards.

The young big men were the leaders for Minnesota despite being in foul trouble. Sophomore forward Dawson Garcia tallied 15 points and eight rebounds. Freshman forward Pharrel Payne notched 17 points before fouling out. 

In the opening five minutes, both offenses shined with the play of their respective big men. Reese and Garcia traded buckets on each end.

The offensive showcase continued, especially for the Terps with graduate student guard Jahmir Young and Hart hitting back-to-back threes just under seven minutes into the game. Defensively, the Terps struggled to contain Garcia, who had already accumulated nine points before sitting on the bench. 

“Sometimes you just have to go with the flow of the game,” Willard said. “It seemed like we were in for more of an offensive game. I was just happy that the ball was going in the hoop, to be honest.”

But Minnesota would hit a scoring drought where it didn’t record a field goal for four minutes, forcing coach Ben Johnson to call a timeout. Maryland capitalized with an 8-0 run in which it pulled ahead 28-20. Scott and Hart led the run, each knocking down a three.

After the timeout, the run continued with Minnesota’s miscues on offense leading to open shots on the other end for Maryland. Freshman forward Jaden Henley finally ended the run with a three, but not until the Terps scored 15 unanswered. 

Maryland’s offense kept going to Hart and Scott in the low post, who each posted 14 first half points. This allowed the Terps to regroup, now leading 47-30. 

As a team, The Terps shot over 73% from the field, their best during a half all season. They also posted a balanced scoring attack while having the advantage of scoring in the paint, 26-18. 

Minnesota struggled to find scoring outside of Garcia and Henley, who combined for 23 of the Golden Gophers’ 30 points. After recording 31 points against Illinois on Monday, junior forward Jamison Battle recorded zero in the first half.

The Terps entered the matchups perfect 16-0 when leading at the half.

Four minutes into the second half, several players scored their first points after being held scoreless in the first. Battle and Cooper scored their first buckets for Minnesota. Senior guard Don Carey also scored his first points of the game and got hot with eight second half points.

With 13:16 to play, Hart found Reese on a pick-and-roll, and the 6-foot-9 forward finished through contact to give the Terps a 22-point lead. On the next possession, Hart found Reese down low yet again and he finished a two-handed flush. 

“I feel like Hakim [Hart] is one of the best guys we got,” Reese said. “He just makes scoring plays a lot, doesn’t really turn the ball over. He’s the guy that will step up.”

With eight minutes to play Maryland continued its offensive prowess going on a 7-0 run. The Terps also stayed locked in defensively, forcing five turnovers. 

The Terps kept growing their lead and with five minutes to play they reached a 30-point lead. 

Minnesota was unable to contain the trio of Hart, Reese and Scott as they combined for 59 points. The Terps scored in bunches and did so off the Golden Gophers’ miscues to the tune of 23 points off turnovers. 

Maryland cruised through the second half, handing Minnesota its 12th loss in a row.