Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
Over the past several games, the Terps have delivered that “who’s going to show up” type of team and tonight against another strong Big Ten opponent in Michigan, the right Terps team showed up. One that wanted to battle to the end and make things happen late in the game.
Graduate point guard Jahmir Young, who continues to shine and perhaps is the best player on the team once again led the way with 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting. The Terps exacted revenge on the Wolverines with a 64-58 win, improving to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play.
Maryland held a two-point lead at the half and Young’s layup with 13:15 left gave the Terrapins a 42-38 lead, but Terrance Williams II converted back-to-back layups to tie the game, and the teams traded baskets to keep the game tied at 44-44 with just over 11 minutes to play.
The Terps didn’t really pull away until a bit after the 5:00 mark in the game when they had the Wolverines on the ropes. That was until Juwan Howard applied a bit more defensive presence and they were able to get back to within striking distance at six when Williams hit a lay-up with 1:26 remaining.
Michigan had one more chance on a Hunter Dickenson offensive rebound and lay-up with 0:40 remaining, but that was a close as they would get down the stretch.
“We gave them quite a few chances to stay close in the final few minutes more than I would have liked,” said Terps Head Coach Kevin Willard. “Jahmir did another excellent job for us tonight. I think you see his leadership showing more and more each game.”
“I think he is playing as good as any player in the country right now. I think he’s gotten comfortable with the length and size he has to go against every night. It’s a big adjustment with the centers he sees, the coverages he sees. I just think he’s starting to get a little more comfortable not settling on the perimeter,” said Willard.
Maryland got another big night from Donta Scott, who moved up to No. 41 in the all-time scoring records for Maryland with 1,145 career points. He passed Brad Davis (1,136, 1974-78) and Steve Blake (1, 139, 1999-03). Next up is Buck Williams at No. 41 on the list with 1,153 total points.
