Maryland men’s basketball (1-0) looks to remain undefeated in the Kevin Willard era as the Terps prepare to take on Western Carolina (0-1).
The lights were on in XFINITY Center for Willard’s debut as the new coach in College Park. While the Terps may have only been up by seven against Niagara at half, they turned it on in the second half, outscoring the Purple Eagles by 15 to win 71-49.
When asked if he felt any jitters in his first game, Willard said he did have some nervous moments, because everything about the lead up to the game was different to his experience at Seton Hall.
“I had a really good routine at Seton Hall … I had it down to the minute. I think routine helps, I’m a big routine guy. So I think I just have to figure out what the heck I’m gonna do,” Willard said.
Senior forward Donta Scott scored 18 points on 4-5 shooting from three, and graduate student guard Jahmir Young notched 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his Maryland debut.
The duo of Scott and Young is expected to lead the Maryland offense this season.
Maryland excelled against Niagara from three — an area the Terps struggled in under Mark Turgeon. The Terps shot 9-20 from beyond the arc, shooting an efficient 45%. While Scott was the only Terp who connected multiple times from deep, he wasn’t alone in acting as a threat from downtown.
The Terp faltered a bit on the boards on Monday, getting out-rebounded by Niagara in the first half. Maryland fared better on the boards in the second half, as the Terps finished the night on the right side of the rebound battle, but the Purple Eagles out-rebounded the Terps 13-11 on the offensive end of the floor.
The big man in Maryland’s starting lineup — 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Julian Reese — tied with Young for the game-high in rebounds (seven).
Despite the win, Willard felt the Terps didn’t have the best day on the court.
“I think the biggest thing is that we didn’t play very good, and we kind of were in control for most of the game,” Willard said, “So I think for the first game … watching them and going back and watching film, seeing how much better we can get.”
Western Carolina entered this year off an 11-21 campaign a season ago in coach Justin Gray’s first year at the helm. The Catamounts play with a lot of pace on offense, and shot fairly well from behind the arc last year at 31.2%. However, they really struggle on the boards.
In their season opener against Georgia, the Catamounts got outrebounded 42-26. 6-foot-8 redshirt junior forward Tyzhaun Claude led them in boards with seven.
Western Carolina also struggled shooting from the field in game one. The Catamounts shot 20-57 (35.1%), and senior guard Vonterius Woolbright certainly didn’t help, as he finished just 2-11 from the floor.
The Catamounts went nine deep against Georgia, but just seven points came from their bench. In comparison, 11 Terps played against Niagara — and accounted for 18 points.
Nicholas Robinson, Western Carolina’s leading scorer last season, graduated, so the Catamounts have a new look on offense.
Claude, a Morehead State transfer, led the Catamounts in scoring in their opener with 18. Claude averaged 3.4 points per game last season at Morehead State. The only other Catamount to score in double figures against Georgia was senior guard Tre Jackson. The Iowa State transfer scored 17 points and connected on five looks from deep.
Maryland will look to work to improve upon its rebounding issues against Western Carolina, and move to 2-0 on the young season.
The game will start at 7 p.m. and will take place at the XFINITY Center in College Park.
