With five minutes left, Miami threatened a comeback on Maryland men’s basketball, who had held a prominent lead for practically the whole game. But two big plays from Julian Reese helped the Terps pull away from the pressure.
First, Reese rotated perfectly on defense and stretched out to block a Jordan Miller three-point shot that would have cut Maryland’s lead to single-digits. Then, Jahmir Young located Reese in transition for a wide-open slam to push the lead to 18, which Miami wouldn’t recover from.
Reese shot 7-8 from the field and finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds as every starter scored in double figures for Maryland, who captured a statement win in the 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip Off Championship, defeating Miami 88-70.
“I haven’t had a center in about five years that can flash out, catch it, and play high post basketball,” coach Kevin Willard said in regards to Reese. “I think Julian’s getting a lot of confidence in the fact that I think we all have a lot of confidence in what Julian can do with the basketball.”
Senior forward Donta Scott took the command of the offense for most of the game, going for a game-high 24 points and 8 rebounds, with 9-12 shooting from the field. Scott’s shot making throughout the first twenty minutes was one of the main factors in Maryland’s early lead, as he scored 15 of his 24 points in the first half. He also made history in the half, becoming just the 13th ever Terp to score 1,000 career points in a Maryland uniform.
Despite the Terps’ lack of size, Maryland out-rebounded Miami 39-20, 11-8 on the offensive glass.
Reese kicked off the game showcasing his rebounding skills, as he scored two putback layups for the Terps’ first two buckets of the game. After guards Young and Isaiah Wong exchanged threes, a Scott offensive rebound and floater that followed a Hakim Hart miss gave Maryland an 11-9 lead.
Maryland took an early lead in the first half with its offensive rebounding and efficiency from the three-point line. The Terps made six of 12 threes to start the game, and finished the half with seven makes from deep. Maryland out-rebounded Miami on the offensive glass 6-0 in the first nine minutes, which provided multiple baskets on second chance opportunities. Three’s from Scott and senior guard Don Carey helped extend Maryland’s lead to 25-15 — part of an 11-0 run.
Scott continued to show flashes of his scoring prowess in the first half. With just over seven minutes left in the half, a midrange jumper and a three off a pump fake put himself in double figures with 10 points in the half.
The Terps separated themselves from the Hurricanes with efficient looks to end the first half. A free throw line floater from senior guard Jahari Long followed by a tough right handed finish through contact by Hart gave Maryland a 42-32 lead with a little over two minutes left in the half.
The Terps cashed in on a high percentage of their free throws at the end of the first half. Scott and junior guard Ian Martinez made five of six free throws to end the half, putting Maryland up by 13 at the break.
In the first half, Willard’s squad shot a high percentage from everywhere on the court. The Terps shot 62.5% from the field, 7-13 from three, and 10-13 from the free throw line. The reliable scoring allowed Maryland to key in on defense, as the Terps limited Miami to just 2-10 shooting from three in the first 20 minutes.
The experience of the Terps has played a big role in things coming together on the defensive end at the start of this season.
“When you have older guys who are smart, who are also big time players, they get things a little bit quicker than a freshman would,” Willard said. “I think they’ve all worked really hard to understand what we’re trying to do defensively. And it’s helping us win games.”
Maryland did not miss a beat on either end of the court to start the second half. A nasty block from Reese on Wong turned into a long midrange jumper from Young, which gave the Terps their biggest lead of the game, 58-40.
Reese remained an integral part in preserving the Maryland lead with his presence under the basket on offense. The sophomore forward notched his first offensive rebound off of a missed layup from Martinez, and put it back up for his sixth straight make from the field to put him at 15 points on the day.
Even though Maryland kept its lead in double-digits for most of the second half, the Hurricanes began to mount a comeback with under eight minutes left. An and-one layup from sophomore forward Norchad Omier, plus two midrange jumpers from Wong, cut Maryland’s lead to 10 with under seven minutes left.
Miami tried to come back late, but Maryland pulled away, improving to 5-0 on the season.
“We get after it in practice, that builds our chemistry a lot,” Young said. “I feel like we’re still growing, we still have a lot to get under our belt, and still got a lot to learn.”
The Terps will look to remain undefeated on Black Friday, when they take on Coppin State at 4 p.m. at the XFINITY Center.
