After a defiant 95-79 win over Coppin State over the weekend, undefeated No. 22 Maryland men’s basketball (6-0) will try to remain undefeated as it takes on Louisville (0-6) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Tuesday.
Maryland’s win over Coppin State featured some of the best individual performances from the Terps so far this season. For the first time in 20 years, three Terps recorded at least 20 points in the same game — sophomore forward Julian Reese, senior guard Hakim Hart, and graduate student guard Jahmir Young. The Terps won the battle on the glass, as they out-rebounded Coppin State 40-26, and out-rebounded the Eagles 18-6 on offensive boards.
Reese scored a career high 24 points 10-12 shooting from the field, and grabbed 10 rebounds as well. Reese is having a great start to the season, averaging 15 points and eight rebounds per game.
“He’s constantly going after the offensive glass, where I think maybe last year or early in the season I think he was going every other time, he’s going every time now,” coach Kevin Willard said. “He knows it’s a great way to get buckets, it’s a great way to get easy points.”
Hart had his outright best performance of the season against Coppin State.
The lengthy guard registered eight rebounds and two steals to go along with a season high 22 points, and shot 2-4 from three. As a team, the Terps shot just 4-21 from behind the arc. Hart is averaging 14 points per game this season, the third most on the team.
Senior forward Donta Scott had an off game against Coppin State, as he scored just nine points, but projects to have a bounce back performance against Louisville. Scott enters with a team leading 15.5 points per game average, and is shooting 50% from the field and 41.7% from three on the season.
Louisville, led by coach Kenny Payne, are 0-6 as the Cardinals have struggled mightily early on. The Cardinals lost all three games at the Maui Invitational last week, against then-No. 9 Arkansas, then-No. 21 Texas Tech, and Cincinnati. All three losses were by over 15 points.
The Cardinals’ record may be misleading, as their three losses before the invitational all came by just one point.
Louisville struggles to shoot from behind the arc, as the Cardinals’ 29.7 % three point range percentage ranks 284th among all Division One schools. Opponents have shot 34.1% from three against them. For shooting as a whole, Louisville’s 39.5% ranks 305th in the country. Not a single Cardinal enters with a shooting average of over 50% from the field and 42% from three.
Louisville’s star player is senior guard El Ellis, who’s currently averaging 17.2 points (fifth most in the ACC), 3.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. No other Cardinal averages in double figures for points.
“I think El Ellis is as good a guard as we’re gonna see all year,” Willard said. “He has an unbelievable high workload, he gets everybody involved.”
Maryland’s lack of size in the post hasn’t been a major issue so far this season, and it doesn’t project to cause a problem against Louisville. Only two Cardinals average at least five rebounds per game, 6-foot-9 redshirt junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers and 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, while 6-foot-9 Reese and 6-foot-8 Scott both average over six.
The matchup will take place at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville at 7 p.m. and will broadcast on ESPN2.
