Missing one of its top scorers and floor general, Oregon posted a 64-54 win over Maryland on Friday night in College Park, Md., picking up its first Big Ten win of the season.
A late second-half 7-0 run was key for the Ducks (8-6, 1-2 Big Ten) in building a 10-point lead with 4:04 to play. Takai Simpkins hit a jumper for a 55-45 lead and the Terrapins were unable to get closer than seven down the rest of the way.
Nate Bittle and Simpkins led Oregon with 16 points and seven rebounds apiece, while Kwame Evans Jr. added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Without guard Jackson Shelstad (15.6 points, 4.9 assists per game), who was ruled out before tipoff with an undisclosed injury, the Ducks played at a more methodical tempo and took 18 fewer shots than the hosts. The difference was that the Ducks made 23 of 47 shots (48.9%) from the floor, while Maryland was cold with 17 makes on 65 attempts (27.7%).
Simpkins’ fastbreak dunk with 37 seconds left sealed Oregon’s fourth win in the past five games.
Solomon Washington led Maryland with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Isaiah Watts added 11 points, but the Terps (7-7, 0-3) made just seven of 35 3-point attempts (20%) and lost for the fourth time in their five games.
Wei Lin, a guard who played professionally in China before joining the Ducks, started in place of Shelstad and scored eight points in 22 minutes.
Oregon took a 34-27 lead into halftime. Maryland tied it at 43 on a 3-pointer from Elijah Saunders with 10:59 to play.
The Terps held the lead for only 56 seconds.
Oregon led by as many as nine in the first half. The Ducks have won both meetings since joining the Big Ten before the 2024-25 season.
Maryland played without big man Pharrel Payne, who entered the night averaging a team-leading 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game but hasn’t played since Dec. 13 due to an undisclosed injury.
–Field Level Media
