No. 22 Maryland (6-0)
at Louisville (0-6)
November 29, 2022
KFC YUM! Center
7:00 pm ET
COLLEGE PARK, MD - After a 95-79 win over Coppin State at home on Friday, the Terps head out for their first true road game on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Louisville. Thanks to its impressive 6-0 start to the year, Maryland enters the week at No. 22 in the AP Top 25 Poll moving up one spot from last week. The opening tip is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2. Fans can listen to the Maryland Sports Network (105.7 FM - Baltimore, The TEAM 980 AM - Washington, D.C., One Maryland App) with Matt Noble (play-by-play) and Chris Knoche (analyst) calling the action.
Under head coach
Kevin Willard, Maryland has put together one of the toughest defenses in the country ranking 47th in scoring defense (61.3 ppg), 70th in field goal percentage defense (39.1%), and 30th in three-point percentage defense (26.3%). The Terps have also controlled the boards with a +8.0 rebounding margin which is 38th nationally.
Maryland is the only school to compete on both sides of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge - for the ACC prior to 2014 and for the Big Ten since. The Terps were 10-5 when playing for the ACC, but have been just 1-7 since joining the Big Ten making Maryland 11-12 all-time in the challenge. As a Big Ten member, Maryland is 0-3 on the road in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Louisville is 4-4 all-time in the challenge since joining the ACC with a 4-0 record at home.
Â
Willard's Early Milestones
- Kevin Willard has become the first coach in Maryland history to start 6-0 in his first season leading the Terps. He has also become the first coach in program history to have Maryland ranked nationally during a coach's first season.
- Willard is one of just four current head coaches in their first year with a program to remain unbeaten this season joining Kansas State's Jerome Tang, Mississippi State's Chris Jans, and Missouri's Dennis Gates. He is the only one in the group to have his team ranked in either the AP or USA Top 25 polls.
No Sophomore Slump For Reese
- After a relatively quiet opening night with seven points and seven rebounds against Niagara, Julian Reese has shown fans he can be a dominant player for the Terps after tying his career-high with 19 points against both Western Carolina and Binghamton. Against the Catamounts, he also posted his first career double-double with a career-high 12 rebounds.
- On the year, Reese is second on the team in scoring at 15.0 points and leads the Terps in rebounds (8.0). Nationally, Reese leads all players with an 80.4 field goal percentage (37-of-46).
- Against Coppin State, Reese hit nine straight field goals (one shy of tying the program record). Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Reese has increased his scoring output by 9.3 points, has nearly doubled his rebounding productivity (8.0 compared to 4.4), and has increased his field goal percentage by 34.8 percent (.804 compared to .456).
Terps Have Four Averaging Double-Figures
- Maryland features four players averaging in double figures so far this season. Led by Donta Scott's 15.5 points, Julian Reese is just behind at 15 per game. Hakim Hart (14) and Jahmir Young (13.7) round out the quartet.
- Hart, Reese, and Scott are all averaging career-best scoring totals to begin the season.
- The win over Coppin State featured three players scoring 20-or-more points in a game for the first time in 20 years: Julian Reese (24), Hakim Hart (22), and Jahmir Young (21).
- The Terps have been averaging 92.7 points over the last three games and have won all six games of the year by double-figures including by 20-plus points for the first four straight. Maryland's +21.3 scoring margin is 20th nationally.
Scott Reaches 1,000 Points; Eclipses 500 Boards
- Donta Scott became the 59th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in the win over Miami. He scored 24 points in that game and now has 1,019 career points. He is also the 17th Terp to post 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. Through 100 career games he now has 533 rebounds.
- Darryl Morsell (1,090 points / 510 rebounds / 2018-21) and Anthony Cowan (1,881 points / 508 rebounds / 2017-20) were the most recent Terps to post 1,000/500.
- Scott passed Terp legend Len Elmore in the win over Coppin State to currently sit 57th in all-time scoring. His 533 rebounds puts him 40th all-time.
- Scott was one of 20 players named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Watch List as announced by the Basketball Hall of Fame in late October.
- This is Scott's second year on the watch list after also garnering the honor last season. He joins Jalen Smith (2019-20) and Jake Layman (2014-15) as Terps to be recognized.
- Scott ranked as the No. 49 overall player nationally last season.
Fun News & Notes
- NOVEMBER REIGN - Maryland is 71-13 in November games dating back to 2010-11.
- TERPS LEADING 99% OF THE TIME - In a total of 240 game minutes played this season, Maryland has trailed a total of 3-minutes, 23 seconds (3:23). The Terps led wire-to-wire against Western Carolina, Binghamton, and Saint Louis.
- DEFENSE GENERATES OFFENSE - Maryland is forcing 13.8 turnovers per game which has translated to 16.5 points off turnovers. Nearly 20 percent of the Terps offense has been generated off turnovers.
- RISING STOCK FROM KENPOM - The win over Saint Louis moved Maryland up 14 spots in the KenPom rankings. The Terps entered last weekend ranked No. 42 before jumping to No. 28 after the 28-point win. Following the win over Miami, Maryland moved up to No. 22 and enter this week at No. 25
- MAKING POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS - Donta Scott and Hakim Hart lead the Terps with outstanding +134 and +130 ratings through six games. Don Carey is just behind at +111. The trio along with fellow starters Jahmir Young and Julian Reese are +45 as a line-up on the year.
- CONTROLLING THE BOARDS - Maryland has a +8.0 rebounding margin for the season which ranks 38th nationally. The Terps have held the rebounding adavantage in all six games this year. Individually, Julian Reese ranks 19th nationally with 3.83 offensive boards per game. Against Coppin State, Maryland translated its +13 advantage on the boards to a season high 26 second chance points. In the win over Saint Louis, the Terps had a 17-to-6 (+11) edge in second chance points which had previously been the season high before finishing +17 (26-to-9) against Coppin State.
Click here for this week's game notes.
