Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
It seems like the Kevin Willard era has gotten off to a great start. While neither one of the first two of Maryland’s opponents were predicted to compete closely with the Terps, tonight it was Julian Reese and the defense that had Western Carolina searching for answers after the first two minutes into the game.
Reese scored twice in the opening three minutes, backing down a smaller Western Carolina defender, 6-foot-8 Tyzhaun Claude, spinning and dunking with two hands to give Maryland a 6-0 lead. Minutes later, he swooped across the baseline and scored on a reverse layup, six points in less than six minutes.
Jahmir Young added 16 points for Maryland, while Hakim Hart scored 10. The Terrapins shot 44.3% overall but just 10.5% from 3-point range (2 of 19). The Terps had just 10 assists on 27 baskets.
One of the most notable stats of the night was that Western Carolina didn’t surpass 50 points until Marcus Kell buried a 3 pointer with 27 seconds left to play.
” I am very happy with our defensive effort tonight,” said Terps Head Coach Kevin Willard. “Julian gave us a tremendous effort all around and you can see he felt a bit more comfortable then our first game against Niagra.”
The Terps held Western Carolina to just 27 percent from the field. The Terps allowed just 15 points in the first half, the fewest they have given up to an opponent since December 30, 2014 when they faced Michigan State on the road.
Next up for the Terps is a home matchup against Binghamton on November 15th.
