Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
Tonight’s game was billed as one of the best matchups of the week in College Basketball, however it ended up being one of the biggest embarrassments of the week and perhaps the season for the Terps.
Perhaps it was the 9pm start that confused the Terps, but they barely looked as if they stepped in the Xfinity Center tonight before they had checked out for the night. UCLA pulled the throttle and never looked back on this, 87-60 rout.
Making UCLA’s trouncing even more impressive, the Bruins (9-2) built leads as large as 38 points even after Tyger Campbell missed most of the first half in foul trouble and Jaylen Clark sat out the first nine minutes of the second half after taking a hard fall underneath the basket. Clark made a floating jumper almost immediately after re-entering the game and finished with 19 points on seven-for-11 shooting to go with six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
For the Bruins, this was the start of a two-game East Coast trip that could resonate long after the final buzzer of a showdown against No. 13 Kentucky on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Maryland after starting the season undefeated has had its share of struggles in the past few weeks with two losses to Tennessee and Wisconsin on the road, the Terps now have lost three in a row to ranked opponents.
Maryland couldn’t find any offense early finally broke the ice with a second-chance 3-pointer five minutes after the opening tip, snapping their 0-for-8 start from the field. UCLA rattled off five makes in a row, though, forcing four turnovers in a row by drawing two offensive fouls and coming away with two steals.
“We just have to put this one behind us. There isn’t much we could do right tonight said,” Terps Head Coach Kevin Willard. “They are a very well coached team, and they dominated us tonight.”
To give an idea of how bad things were in the first half, with 5:09 left in the first half, Willard burned his second-to-last timeout after watching UCLA’s David Singleton knock down another 3-pointer to put the Terrapins in a 32-11 hole.
By the half, people could be seen filing out of the stands as they had suffered enough misery watching one of the worst Terps losses in recent memory.
Next up for the Terps a match-up against St. Peters.
