No. 7 Maryland cruises to 3-0 start, defeats Oakland 80-50

While No. 7 Maryland men’s basketball has started the season 3-0 for the sixth consecutive season, it took awhile for the team to get things going.

The Terps started Saturday’s game similar to their first two games.

Hosting the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (3-1), Maryland struggled taking care of the ball. Nine first half turnovers cost the team chances to pull away earlier than they would’ve liked. The Terps eventually found their footing, making a late first-half push that would eventually guide them to an 80-50 victory.

“Another slow start for us,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “Sometimes when you have the number seven in front of your name, you really haven’t quite earned it. You think you’re supposed to beat everybody by 25 in each half and that’s not the case in college basketball.”

Oakland took advantage of Maryland’s early miscues and jumped out to an early 16-12 lead halfway through the first half.

With a slim 24-22 lead, Maryland began its eventual onslaught by closing out the first half with a 11-0 run.

Sophomore forward Jalen Smith had another highlight-reel worthy moment during the run as he first blocked a Golden Grizzlies driving to the basket before running to the other end of the court to throw down a two-handed dunk off an alley-oop lob from senior guard Anthony Cowan.

Smith did not secure his third consecutive double-double, but still chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

Sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins closed out of the first half run by knocking down a 3-pointer as time expired. Wiggins finished the afternoon with 10 points and three steals.

“We relaxed a little bit right before half,” Turgeon said. “We talked about that at about the eight-minute mark in the first half, and in the second half we really played well.”

Leading 35-22 at halftime, the Terps came out blazing as they built their lead up to 25 not even eight minutes into the second half.

Junior guard Daryl Morsell found his rhythm in the second half, scoring nine of Maryland’s first 15 points after the break. Morsell scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, adding seven rebounds and two steals to the stat sheet as well.

With the team in full control, Turgeon was able to clear the bench and get all 15 players in as the Terps found themselves up 35 with a little under four minutes left in the game.

The Terps struggled once again with their three-point shooting. They shot 30.8 percent on the night, bringing their season percentage to 26.4.

One memorable moment late in the game occurred once junior walk-on Reese Mona checked into the game.

Mona checked in with about five minutes left in the game and had the fans in Xfinity Center on their feet about a minute later. The sharpshooter nailed back-to-back jumpers from the right wing, one 3-pointer and the other a deep 2-pointer. 

Maryland’s bench and the crowd were all on their feet cheering emphatically as the ball swished through the net for the junior’s first points of the season.

The Terps will host Fairfield on Nov. 19 at Xfinity Center at 8:30 p.m.