David Coit scored a career-high 43 points, with a school-record 30 in the first half, as Maryland overwhelmed Penn State 96-73 on Sunday at College Park, Md.
Mixing aggressive drives to the hoop with step-back jumpers from the perimeter, Coit made 14 of 23 shots, including 9 of 15 from 3-point range. The nine 3-pointers tied a Maryland record.
Coit’s performance was one shy of the Maryland record of 44 points in a game set by Ernie Graham in a 1978 victory over North Carolina State. Coit did top Graham’s previous Maryland record for points in a half (25).
Elijah Saunders added 16 points and Darius Adams added 14 points as Maryland (8-10, 1-6) snapped a four-game losing streak.
Wearing a mask to protect his broken nose, Kayden Mingo returned to the Penn State lineup after missing three games and scored 19 points.
Dominick Stewart added 17 points and Eli Rice added 13 points for the Nittany Lions (9-9, 0-7), who are off to their worst start in conference play since the 2018-19 season when they lost their first 10 league games.
Coit, who tallied 30 points Tuesday in Maryland’s loss at Southern California, also became the first Terrapins player to score 30 or more in consecutive games since Nik Caner-Medley in the 2005-06 season.
Because of his inconsistency, Coit has been in and out of the starting lineup this season. Sunday’s performance far exceeded his average of 13.8 points per game. Coit scored his previous career high of 41 points in an overtime win over Mount St. Mary’s in November.
Coit helped propel Maryland to a 56-26 halftime lead before Penn State staged a rally. In a run that started early in the second half, the Nittany Lions outscored the Terrapins 20-1 as Stewart hit a pair of 3-pointers and Rice and Mingo added one apiece.
A dunk by Ivan Juric capped the spree and cut Maryland’s lead to 61-51 with 11:33 left.
Andre Mills stopped the run with a 3-pointer and Penn State never got the deficit back to single digits.
Coit’s final 3-pointer, with 4:39 left, gave Maryland an 87-63 lead.
–Field Level Media
