Story By: Andrew Lang
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
If there was any game after the Holiday that Buzz Williams and the Terps needed it was this one against Old Dominion tonight.
Maryland delivered a strong performance from the opening tip, taking control early and never relinquishing the lead. The Terrapins surged to huge lead to start the game that took Old Dominion almost 5 minutes to even get on the board which they eventually ballooned to aa 45–18 lead by halftime.
Old Dominion struggled out of the gate, missing multiple early shots and turning the ball over as Maryland’s offense flowed freely. Although the Monarchs played better in the second half, outscoring Maryland 40–28 after intermission, the deficit was too large to overcome.
Darius Adams scored 18 points and Isaiah Watts made his first start for Maryland and finished with 17, including a season-high four 3-pointers, to help the Terrapins beat Old Dominion 73-58 on Sunday night to snap a three-game skid.
The Terps were once again playing without their best player Pharrel Payne. It trotted out its seventh different starting lineup this season: Darius Adams, Andre Mills, Isaiah Watts, Solomon Washington and Elijah Saunders.
Old Dominion showed more fight after intermission, scoring 40 points in the half and executing a late 11-0 run to make things interesting. However, the Monarchs couldn’t chip away enough of the large first-half gap Maryland had built.
The Monarchs (4-10) shot 36.8% (21-for-57) from the floor, 22.2% (4-for-18) from long range, and 63.2% (12-for-19) at the free-throw line.
Old Dominion Coach Mike Jones commented about the struggles of his team tonight, “Maryland’s a really good, really talented defensive team. They definitely were physical with us and took us out of what we wanted to do. I’m not necessarily worried as much about the assist numbers as I am about the way we started and put ourselves in a hole.”
One thing that the Terps need to be concerned about tonight is that they had absolutely no bench presence in scoring tonight. Diggy Coit, who normally starts for the Terps came off the bench tonight for Williams, but likely this will be the last time going into the remainder of the season.
