Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
We said earlier in the week that the Terps would need a solid team effort to knock off the struggling Michigan Wolverines, tonight they got just that in the second half of a 64-57 victory, but it wasn’t pretty to start.
For the first 10:00 or thereabouts, we were wondering when any of the Terps beside Jahmir Young were actually going to make an appearance tonight. Donta Scott and Julian Reese clearly emerged from the locker room like a bear from hibernation and ready to feed on Michigan’s sloppy offense.
After the game, Terps Head Coach Kevin Willard talked about the slow start and capitalizing on the Michigan mistakes.
“Donta has been playing like that in practice all year. He’s been playing really good over the last four games,” Willard said regarding Scott’s second half resurgence,” said Willard. “He had some good looks in the first half and we struggled in the first half. I think he was upset with himself at halftime, and he came out and he was very animated in the huddle before he went out, and he just did what a senior does.”
Scott finished 6-of-10 shooting and made all four of his 3-pointers in the second half to help the Terrapins (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) overcome a 12-point halftime deficit. Maryland was just 1-of-11 from long range in the opening period.
Julian Reese paired 14 points with 13 rebounds for Maryland, while Jahmir Young added 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Olivier Nkamhoua led the Wolverines with 18 points and seven rebounds. Terrance Williams II chipped in 10 points.
Michigan was without leading scorer Dug McDaniel. The Wolverines released a statement Wednesday from head coach Juwan Howard stating McDaniel would not travel to road games until further notice. The loss of offense is going to be a big problem for Howard as he now falls to 6-10 on the season and 1-4 in the Big Ten.
The Terps improve to 2-3 overall in conference play and now head back on the road to Illinois for a match up against the 10th ranked Illini on Sunday.
