Dec. 22, 2010
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -
Jordan Williams did his usual thing, and this time he got plenty of help from his Maryland teammates in a lopsided victory.
Williams had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and five other Terrapins scored in double figures Wednesday night in an 89-50 rout of NJIT.
It was the sixth straight double-double for Williams, the longest such streak by a Maryland player since Joe Smith had a seven-game run in 1995.
"To put my name in the same category as Joe Smith is unbelievable. He was a legend at this school," Williams said. "But I don't read too much into it. I just kind of try to play basketball. If I had zero points and zero rebounds tonight and we won the game, I'd have been happy. That's the kind of person I am."
Williams, a 6-foot-10 sophomore center, has 10 double-doubles this season and 18 for his career. It's almost as if his teammates have come to expect him to reach double figures in both categories.
"That's what he does," guard Adrian Bowie said. "We expect that out of Jordan all the time. He's a rebounding machine. He's hard to handle down low."
Dino Gregory scored 14 points, Bowie had 13, Cliff Tucker and Sean Mosley each scored 11 and James Padgett contributed 10 for the Terrapins (8-4).
"It makes the game a lot easier when everyone gets a chance to shine and show what they can do," Bowie said.
Chris Flores led NJIT (2-7) with 10 points. It was the 14th straight road loss for the Highlanders since Dec. 28, 2009.
NJIT coach Jim Engles took consolation in being outscored by only 36-32 in the second half after Maryland took a 53-18 lead at the break.
"I really like the way we competed in the second half," Engles said. "We have some positives that we can sort of build on as we go and play teams that are more our level."
Coming off a nine-day break for final exams, Maryland missed seven of its first 10 shots and led by only 12 points before closing the first half with a 24-1 run.
Padgett started the surge with two free throws and Williams followed with a layup before Pe'Shon Howard made a foul shot. After that, Tucker, Gregory and freshman Terrell Stoglin each scored five points and Mosley chipped in with a basket and two free throws.
The Highlanders' only point over the final 6½ minutes of the first half was a free throw by P.J. Miller.
Maryland coach Gary Williams changed his starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing Tucker, a senior guard, with Howard. Tucker was coming off a 2-for-10 shooting performance against Boston College and was averaging fewer than six points over his last five games.
"Pe'Shon Howard started because of how he played in practice," Gary Williams said. "Cliff didn't start because we wanted to give him a chance to look at the game before he entered. He had not been shooting the ball too well in practice lately, and I thought he looked very comfortable on his shot once he did get into the game."
Tucker hit half his six shots from the floor and went 2 for 3 from beyond the arc. Howard, a freshman, hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute and finished with four points and four assists in his first college start.
