Maryland men’s basketball battled early jitters in Friday’s eventual record win vs. Grand Canyon after the Lopes scored the game's six points and opened with a 7-2 lead just over five minutes into the game. That was until Maryland decisively responded with a heater, knocking down 12 of their next 15 shots punctuated by a Rodney Rice three to push the Terps ahead, 33-13.
Tyon Grant-Foster scored the final five points of the first half to cut Maryland's lead to 14 at the break and the Lopes were able to cut the lead to as little as 12 in the opening minutes of the second half – then Maryland took over.
Friday’s 32-point win marked a program record in an NCAA Tournament game, topping the 30-point win vs. Wisconsin back in 2002.
The 'Crab Five' responded once again on Friday with four of the five starters finishing in double figures. Julian Reese fell just short of a double-double yet led the team in scoring with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Derik Queen's 15 rebounds finished just shy of tying Buck Williams and Ryan Randle for fourth-most by a Terp in an NCAA Tournament game. Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice combined for 25 points as both played under 35 minutes, despite Selton Miguel held to just 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
But for all the questions about Maryland’s depth down the stretch, Friday was DeShawn Harris-Smith’s day to shine.
“He's been steady all year and he's been a great leader,” head coach Kevin Willard said after the win.
The sophomore guard recorded a season-high 11 points and finished a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the 32-point win, including an and-one opportunity with 90 seconds left to give the Terps' bench an early celebration.
“I've [come] off the bench before, like in high school. I played with other great players. I had to wait my turn things like that. I feel like the mindset is the same – just go out there and play as hard as I can, have fun, be confident,” Harris-Smith said in the locker room following the win. “That's the mindset if I’m starting or coming off the bench. I feel like it's winning. We’re in a really good spot – better than we [were] last year.”
“He's starting to become the player that he knows he can be, because he's been a great leader all year,” Willard added.
Harris-Smith was also tasked with slowing down star Lopes guard Tyon Grant-Foster, who was held to 1-of-7 shooting in the second half while shooting 38.4% from the field in 34 minutes.
“I feel like that's one of my biggest jobs when I come in the game, is try to slow down their best player. I mean, he's a great player. He knows how to get to the free throw line and stuff, but I feel like they just feed off my energy knowing I'm going out there and giving my heart, they’re going to just see how hard I'm playing. It's going to help our team.”
It also was easy for Harris-Smith and his teammates to lock in for Friday’s opening game after head coach Kevin Willard noted there was no “situation” behind the scenes.
“I know Coach Willard loves us. I love Coach Willard, and I know he gonna go out there fighting with us for as long as he is our coach and I hope he is our coach next year too. He told us he's staying with us,” Harris-Smith said. “He believe in us, he going to fight with us for the rest of the season. So that's really all we worried about, trying to get a championship.”
“There's no situation. The only situation is you guys and Twitter,” Willard said postgame. “And I can't control you guys and I can't control Twitter. So there's nothing -- I talked to these guys, these guys know exactly what's going on, I've been open with them, I've been honest with them, they know exactly what's going on. I can't control you guys. Whatever I say you're going to write whatever you want to say any ways, that's why this is a ways of my time. We have a website that's like might as well be TMZ, so I can't do anything about it. I can't do anything about Twitter, I can't do anything about what's going on. I can handle what I can handle. We were focused. I'm excited to be here, I'm excited to be with these guys. There's nothing else to talk about. You guys just write whatever the hell you want to write, I don't give a shit, I really don't. I'll probably get a letter from the NCAA on that one.”
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