UNCASVILLE, CT – Maryland stayed perfect as the Terps captured the 2022 Hall of Fame Tip-Off Championship Title with a convincing 88-70 victory over Miami on Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Kevin Willard extended his program-best start to a coaching career with Maryland to 5-0 in defeating a team that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight last season.
The hot-shooting Terps continued their torrid shooting, hitting 60.0 percent from the floor, while again playing stout defense to hand the Hurricanes (4-1) their first loss of the season The Terps shot 9-of-21 from three point range and dominated the glass - out-rebounding the Canes by +19 (39-20).
All-Tip-Off Tournament Team selection Donta Scott led Maryland's scoring attack as he tallied 24 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the floor, including making 3-of-4 from long range. Scott became the 59th Terp to score 1,000 points in a Maryland uniform as he now has 1,010. Scott also grabbed eight rebounds and handed out three assists. In the two Tip-Off games, Scott combined for 49 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 17-of-25 (68 percent) from the floor.
Julian Reese was stellar as well with 17 points and seven rebounds going 7-of-8 from the floor.
For the second game in a row, the Terps had five players score in double-figures as Hakim Hart (14),
Jahmir Young (13 points), and
Don Carey (12) also scored 10-plus. Hart was also named to the All-Tournament team after an instrumental weekend.
The Terps grabbed a 47-34 lead heading into intermission thanks to a blistering 7-of-13 shooting from deep and a dominant, 15-point first half from Scott. Maryland outrebounded Miami 22-8 in the first half while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor.
Miami cut the Terps' lead to 73-63 with 6:21 remaining, but an 8-0 run highlighted by a three-point play from Young, a step-back three from Carey and a run-out dunk from Reese ended the threat and put the game out of reach.
In winning the title, the Terps won their 33rd regular-season tournament championship and the first since the 2019 Orlando Invitational title.
Willard's Take
"These guys have a great feel. They're all big-time players. When you have older guys who are smart and also big-time players, they get things a little quicker than a freshman would. I think they've all worked really hard to understand what we're trying to do defensively and it's helping us win games."
From The Guys
"Coach stresses moving the ball side-to-side," Carey said. "When we get the ball side-to-side we can pretty much get anything we want. We're a selfless team so all our options are great options for us."
"We're still growing," Young added. "We get after it in practice, which builds our chemistry a lot. We still have a lot to learn, but it's good getting the first five wins. We just have to keep going from there."
Breaking Down The Action
- After trading buckets early, Maryland exploded for a 13-2 run to take a 28-17 lead at the 9:42, forcing Miami to call a timeout. Don Carey canned a trio of threes to spark the run.
- The Terps pushed their advantage to 13 at halftime, heading into the lockers up 47 -34, thanks to a 19-10 scoring run in the final eight minutes of first half action. Maryland outrebounded Miami 22-8 in the opening 20 minutes of action.
- The Terps started the second half right where they left off, jumping out to an 11-6 run in less than four minutes to extend their lead to 18 behind dominant scoring in the paint.
- The Hurricanes got within 10 with just over six minutes to go, but the Terps found a way to handle Miami's full court pressure and went on an 8-0 run to put the game away.
5-0 Start
- Maryland opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2019-20, when the Terps started 10-0 on the way to the 2020 Big Ten Championship.
- Maryland has started 5-0 six times in the last nine years.
- Overall, Maryland has started 5-0 on 22 occasions in program history.
- With a 5-0 record, head coach Kevin Willard is the first Maryland head coach to start his Terrapin coaching career winning his first five games of his tenure with the program.
Regular-Season Tournament Titles
- Maryland has now won 33 regular-season tournaments with the last coming in the 2019 Orlando Invitational beating Temple, Harvard, and Marquette.
- Overall, Maryland is now 123-52 (.703) all-time in regular-season tournaments.
Hello 1,000-Point Club
- With the second on two free throws made with 1:25 left in the first half, Donta Scott became the 59th Terp to score 1,000 career points in a Maryland uniform. He now has 1,010 in his career
- Scott also became the 17th Terp to post 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. Through 99 games he now has 527 rebounds to go with his 1,010 points. Darryl Morsell (1,090 points / 510 rebounds / 2018-21) and Anthony Cowan (1,881 points / 508 rebounds / 2017-20) are the most recent to do so.
Double-Figure Update
- All five Maryland starters reached double-figures.
- Scott netted 24 points - on his way to 1,000 career points – for his third game this season in double-figures and 49th in his career with double-figures. It was the fifth time in his career that he scored more than 20 points in a game – and second in a row after a career-high tying 25 on Saturday.
- Scott had a commanding weekend averaging 24.5 points, going 17-of-25 from the floor, and adding 13 rebounds (25 pts, 8-13 FG, 5 reb on Saturday)
- Reese recorded 17 points for his third game this season with 10-plus and 10th game in his career.
- Jahmir Young also reached the double-digit point mark with 13 points. He now has 79 career games in double-figures, including four this season.
- Carey continued his strong play with his second game in a row in double-figures, finishing with 12 points. It marked the 70th time in his collegiate career to reach double-figures.
- Hakim Hart scored in double-figures for the fourth game in a row and the 29th time in his career with 14 points.
Carey Starting To Feel It
- After hitting four triples on Saturday against Saint Louis, Don Carey added four more on Sunday against Miami. He now has 28 all-time games with three-or-more three pointers. After starting this season 2-of-14 from deep, he finished the weekend in Mohegan Sun going 8-of-19.
- Carey's career-high for three pointers in a game is five which he did against St. John's (12/20/20), Providence (1/20/22), and Villanova (2/19/22) while at Georgetown.
Dominating The Boards
- Maryland finished with a +19 margin on the glass marking the first time since 12/28/21 to have a double-digit rebounding advantage.
- The +19 was the best of the year
- Maryland's largest rebound margin last season was a +20, against Lehigh (48-28) on Dec. 28, 2021.
- The last time the Terps had a +15 or better margin against a Power 6 opponent was when the Terps outrebounded Nebraska, 43-28 (+15) on Feb. 16, 2021.
The Miami Series
- This was the 23rd all-time meeting between the two schools with Miami and Maryland now leads 14-9. The teams first met in 1949 and played sporadically until Miami joined the ACC during the 2004-05 season, as they played annually until 2013-14 season. The teams had not played since a 74-71 Maryland win on Jan. 29, 2014.
- The teams played just once on a neutral floor with Miami winning 67-62 in the 2007 ACC Tournament in Tampa.
Notes and Nuggets
- For the fourth straight game, Maryland led by double figures at the intermission, 47-34.
- Maryland assistant coach Tony Skinn coached against his college head coach, Jim Larranaga, who guided George Mason to the 2006 NCAA Final Four with Skinn playing on the team.
Up Next
- The Terps return home to host Coppin State on a Black Friday Special, Friday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m., in XFINITY Center. The game will air on B1G+ and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
