Julian Reese scored 18 points and added eight rebounds, and host Maryland beat Mount St. Mary’s 68-53 in the opener for both teams Tuesday in College Park, Md.
Reese made 8 of 11 field goal attempts and blocked two shots as Maryland (1-0) extended its winning streak in home openers to 47 games.
DeShawn Harris-Smith, a Maryland point guard who finished second in the Big Ten preseason voting for freshman of the year, started for the Terrapins and finished with 12 points in his debut.
Joshua Reaves led Mount St. Mary’s (0-1) with 10 points and Dallas Hobbs added nine. Returning scoring leader Dakota Leffew was held to eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
The Terps shot 49 percent (24-of-49) while the Mountaineers hit 35.6 percent (21-of-59). Maryland had a slight 36-33 rebounding edge and outscored Mount St. Mary’s 40-28 in the paint.
Maryland led by 14 at intermission and Jahmir Young (12 points) scored on a layup to put the Terps up 39-21 with 18 minutes remaining. The Mountaineers closed within 43-29 on Leffew’s two free throws at the 13:14 mark.
However, the Terps hit five straight shots and Donta Scott’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 20 points, 50-30, with 10:48 remaining.
The lead grew to 21 points, but Hobbs’ three-point play cut the deficit to 58-42 with 5:49 to go. The Mountaineers got within 12 points on Ron Jessamy’s layup at the 3:17 mark but could get no closer.
The first half looked like what it was: the opening half of the season. Both teams shot poorly early and combined for 15 turnovers. Each endured a lengthy scoreless stretch — 4:45 for Mount St. Mary’s and 4:07 for Maryland.
Maryland led 10-4 early on, but a layup by Hobbs pulled the Mountaineers within 10-8 with 11:15 remaining in the first half.
The only player on either team making shots early on was Reese, who made three of his first five while scoring seven of Maryland’s first 12 points.
Maryland led 18-14 when Jordan Geronimo’s layup started a 7-0 Terps run capped by Harris-Smith’s layup. Reese’s hook shot made it 29-16 with 1:47 left in the half and the Terps led 33-19 at intermission.
The Terps heated up late and shot 50 percent (14-of-28) in the half while the Mountaineers hit 30 percent (9-of-30).
–Field Level Media
