No. 7 Maryland starts season on the right note, defeats Holy Cross 95-71

Feature photo courtesy Maryland Athletics

When junior guard Darryl Morsell checked into the game at the 14:04 mark in the first half, the Terps’ energy and intensity took a noticeable jump.

With Maryland down 22-21, Morsell started his season off with a literal bang.

After he stole an inbound pass, Morsell flushed home a two-handed dunk to bring some life into an arena that was watching the No. 7 team in the nation trade baskets with an inferior opponent.

This fueled Maryland’s 12-2 run that gave them the opportunity needed to pull away from Holy Cross.

With under a minute left in the first half, sophomore forward Jalen Smith made an emphatic block which led to another fastbreak dunk for Morsell, giving Maryland a 51-39 lead at halftime.

The Crusaders gave one last effort to try and chip away at Maryland’s lead but the Terps were too much to handle and controlled the rest of the game en route to a 95-71 victory Tuesday night.

Morsell finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. Although he started most of the year last season, the junior guard did not let head coach Mark Turgeon’s decision to have him come off the bench strike him in a negative way.

“Everyday we talk about being selfless as a team,” Morsell said. “This team is deep and only five people can start.”

Making his 100th consecutive start, senior guard Anthony Cowan played fast and physical from the first whistle. He continuously found his way to the basket, drawing a foul on his first basket of the season early in the first half.

He finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

One area that Maryland could not find its rhythm was three-point shooting. The Terps shot 18.5 percent from downtown, including a porous 2-of-13 in the first half.

Regardless of their early shooting struggles, the team is not concerned.

“It was the first night, a lot of jitters,” Cowan said. “It usually happens on the first night. We just didn’t hit shots but that also shows how good our offense is if we shot 5-for-27 from three and still put up 95 points.”

Turgeon said that he was proud of the team’s overall performance and was happy that the team got a chance to play an opponent like Holy Cross. He added that the team had no film on the Crusaders so it was a good challenge for the team to come out and just compete on the fly.

The Terps will host Rhode Island on Nov. 9 at the Xfinity Center at 9 p.m.