No. 22 Maryland (7-0)
at No. 16 Illinois (6-1)
December 2, 2022
XFINITY Center
9:00 pm ET
COLLEGE PARK, MD - It's a top-25 battle on Friday night as the No. 22 men's basketball team hosts No. 16 Illinois to open Big Ten conference play at the XFINITY Center. The game will be the annual Gold Rush game with fans encouraged to wear yellow. The Terps are coming off a 79-54 win at Louisville on Tuesday night as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Friday's opening tip against the Illini is slated for 9 p.m., and the game will be televised on BTN. Fans can listen to the Maryland Sports Network (105.7 FM - Baltimore, The TEAM 980 AM - Washington, D.C., One Maryland App) with Voice of the Terrapins Johnny Holliday (play-by-play), Chris Knoche (analyst), and Walt Williams (analyst) calling the action.
Under head coach
Kevin Willard, Maryland has put together one of the toughest defenses in the country ranking 36th in scoring defense (60.3 ppg), 47th in field goal percentage defense (38.4%), and 25th in three-point percentage defense (26.2%). The Terps have also controlled the boards with a +7.6 rebounding margin which is 45th nationally.
In addition to being ranked for the second straight week, Maryland is one of just 18 teams which remain unbeaten this season. The Terps also jumped up to No. 18 in the KenPom rankings following the Louisville win.
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Willard's Early Milestones
- Kevin Willard has become the first coach in Maryland history to start 7-0 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.
- With the win at Louisville, Willard became the first coach in Big Ten history to win each of the first seven games of a tenure by at least 15 points.
- 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 third on the team in scoring at 13.7 points and leads the Terps in rebounds (7.9). Nationally, Reese ranks third among all players with a 78.0 field goal percentage (39-of-50).
- 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 8.0 points, has increased his rebounding productivity (7.9 compared to 4.4), and has increased his field goal percentage by over 30.0 percent (.780 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 15.9 points, Jahmir Young is just behind at 13.9 per game. Julian Reese (13.7) and Hakim Hart (13.3) 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 89.3 points over the last four games and have won all seven games of the year by double-figures including by 20-plus points for the first four straight. Maryland's +21.9 scoring margin is 13th 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 101 career games he now has 538 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 John Gilchrist (1022 pts, 91 games) and Kevin McLinton (1024 pts, 91 games in the win over Louisville to currently sit 55th in all-time scoring. His 538 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 72-13 in November games dating back to 2010-11.
- TERPS LEADING 99% OF THE TIME - In a total of 280 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, Saint Louis, and Louisville.
- DEFENSE GENERATES OFFENSE - Maryland is forcing 13.7 turnovers per game which has translated to 17.1 points off turnovers. Nearly 21 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 entered this week at No. 25. Following the Louisville win, Maryland moved up to No. 18.
- MAKING POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS - Hakim Hart and Donta Scott lead the Terps with outstanding +154 and +153 ratings through seven games. Julian Reese is just behind at +135. The trio along with fellow starters Jahmir Young and Don Carey are +63 as a line-up on the year.
- CONTROLLING THE BOARDS - Maryland has a +7.6 rebounding margin for the season which ranks 45th nationally. The Terps have held the rebounding adavantage in all seven games this year. Individually, Julian Reese ranks 38th nationally with 3.43 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.
