Maryland looked like a different team in each half of its season opener against Manhattan on Monday.
After a shaky first 20 minutes, the Terrapins found their rhythm in the second half and cruised to a 30-point win. They’ll hope to emulate the latter performance throughout all of Friday’s contest against Mount St. Mary’s in College Park, Md.
Maryland struggled to settle in offensively on Monday and led the Jaspers — a 26 1/2-point underdog — by just three points at the half. The expected blowout finally took shape in the second half as the hosts outshot Manhattan 50 percent to 18.8 percent during the period to pull away for a 79-49 victory.
Terrapins coach Kevin Willard downplayed any potential concerns about his team’s slow start.
“Just nerves,” he said. “We’ve got eight new guys … It was just a little bit more or less of, ‘Everybody kind of relax, and we’ll be OK,’ and it was.”
Not everyone was nervous, though.
Derik Queen, Maryland’s top newcomer, piled up 22 points and 20 rebounds in his first collegiate game. The five-star center became just the second Division I player since 1996-97 to post a 20-20 game in his freshman debut (Kansas State’s Michael Beasley did so in 2007).
“No nerves. It was just to go out there and play basketball,” Queen said. That is what I love to do. I have played basketball forever, so why be nervous now?”
The Terrapins welcome a Mountaineers squad that routed Notre Dame of Maryland 98-62 on Monday in Donny Lind’s head coaching debut.
Guard Dallas Hobbs had 17 points to lead five Mount St. Mary’s scorers in double figures, but the Mountaineers committed 24 turnovers to contrast with their 21 assists.
Lind knows that better ball security will be vital for his team to challenge Maryland.
“We’ve said it from early on — talent is not going to be our problem,” Lind said. ” … It’s figuring out how to value the ball a little bit better and do some things that will allow us to really carry this scoring over as we step up a weight class (against Maryland).”
–Field Level Media
