It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough as Maryland men’s basketball closed out non-conference play with an 81-66 win vs. UMES.
Maryland never trailed on Saturday and at times held onto a single-digit lead before the frontcourt took over.
Julian Reese led the way for the Terps early, pouring in 13 points and 7 rebounds where he became the tenth player in program history to notch 800 career rebounds. He finished with a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, notching his 28th career double-double and sixth of the season, while Saturday marked his third 20-point game of the season. Derik Queen added his fifth double-double of the season after finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds for his, while Selton Miguel was the third Terp to finish in double figures with ten points on 4-of-13 shooting. Jordan Geronimo added a season-high nine points off the bench, while Ja’Kobi Gillespie fell one point and one assist away from his second consecutive double-double.
Maryland struggled from deep after missing their first eight attempts from deep and finishing the day just 27.1%, marking the second-worst percentage from three this season.
Maryland jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead after Julian Reese poured in seven points, two rebounds and a block in the first six minutes of the game as head coach Kevin Willard’s squad seemed poised to run away with the game as expected. But UMES would punch back, going on their own 8-0 run as the Terps’ offense went scoreless for 4:15.
Maryland would get a bit more breathing room after responding with their own 6-0 run, maintaining at least a two-basket lead the rest of the way. After Hassan Perkins hit a baseline jumper to cut the lead to 27-21, Maryland finished the half on a 13-3 run as DeShawn Harris-Smith’s three in the closing seconds of the half cemented a 40-24 halftime lead.
Maryland opened the second-half with an alley-oop setup by the backdoor screen, but UMES would once again hit back – and hit back harder – as they opened the half on a 13-5 run, trimming the Terps’ lead to eight and prompting Kevin Willard to call timeout.
UMES trimmed the lead to as little as six before Maryland responded with a quick 6-0 run, capitalizing on an unforced UMES turnover less than a minute after Derik Queen flushed in a thundering slam. It’d be the run to give the Terps enough breathing room, though, as Maryland held onto a double-digit lead the rest of the way despite UMES closing the game on an 8-0 run over the final 2:08.
Next: Maryland returns to conference play as they travel to face Washington on Jan. 2 for a 9:30 PM tipoff.
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