COLLEGE PARK, MD - Maryland won its school-record 12th consecutive home Big Ten Conference game, dominating Minnesota, 88-70, on Wednesday night at XFINITY Center. The Terps (19-9 overall and 10-7 Big Ten) are a perfect 9-0 at home in conference play this season and 15-1 at the friendly confines of XFINITY Center this year.
The Terps used a 25-4 run to bust open a 20-20 first-half tie to lead 47-30 at halftime and never looked back. Maryland shot 73.1 percent in the first half, its best shooting first half since 2017. The Terps were red-hot from the floor, shooting 68.1 percent, including 7-of-13 from three-point range. The 68.1 percent is the sixth-best in school history and the best for any Big Ten team in a conference game since Michigan State show 68.2 at Illinois on Jan. 23, 2018.
With the win, Maryland is now tied for third place in the Big Ten standing with Indiana, behind Purdue (13-4) and Northwestern (11-5), who comes to Maryland on Sunday for a Noon tip on BTN.
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Julian Reese recorded 21 points – his most ever in a Big Ten game –- and 11 rebounds – his second consecutive double-double and fifth of the season. He hit 9-fo-11 from the floor.
Donta Scott scored 18 points as he hit 7-of-9 from the floor.
Hakim Hart tallied 20 points as he made 6-of-8, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. Hart also had six assists, four rebounds and four steals.
All five Terrapin starters scored in double-figures as
Jahmir Young (11 points) had his 14th consecutive game with 10 or more points – and the 100th game in double-figures in his career.
Don Carey added 10 points
Minnesota (7-19, 1-15) was led by Pharrel Payne, who had 17 points.
From Coach Willard:
"We really were rolling there for a while – I think at one point we were 30-for-40 – so it was definitely good to be back at home. I think Donta making a couple of shots early really helped relax everybody. We struggled to score against Nebraska's defense; I thought we started a little bit slow tonight. It was our third game in seven days – these end of the year stretches can be tough. I thought Ian gave us a really good boost defensively; once we got going defensively that really allowed us to open up offensively."
From Hakim Hart
"From now on I'm just going to stay in attack mode, that's what this team needs and its going to be great."
"Julian is a heck of player, he is monster down and we've just got to give him the ball when he is open because he is going to finish for sure."
Breaking Down The Action
- Julian Reese scored six of the first eight points for the Terps to open the game.
- An 8-2 run highlighted by triples from Jahmir Young and Hakim Hart put the Terps up 16-15 at the 12:54 mark of the first half.
- The Terps ripped off a 15-0 run to take a 35-20 lead thanks to Scott (six points in run) and Hart (five) with 5:57 left in the first half.
- Maryland took a 47-30 lead into the break after shooting 19-of-26 from the field (73.1 percent).
- The Terps continued its onslaught in the second half ld by Reese, who had 13 points and eight rebounds over the final 20 minutes.
Peaking At The Right Time
- Wednesday's win marked Maryland's ninth win in the last 13 games including seven of the last nine.
- The Terps are now 4-1 in rematch games this year: Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota. The lone split was against Nebraska.
- The win marked Maryland's first sweep of a conference foe since defeating Nebraska twice during the 2020-21 season.
Home Cookin'
- Maryland has now won a program-record 12 consecutive Big Ten conference games at XFINITY, including all nine games this season and the final three of last season.
- The Terps' previous record was nine consecutive home Big Ten wins in 2014-15 - Maryland's first season in the league. In 2019-20, Maryland won eight straight Big Ten games.
- The Terps are 15-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming to No. 8 UCLA.
- This is the 29th consecutive year Maryland has won at least 10 games at home, dating to the 1993-94 season. It also marks the 17th time in the last 20 seasons to win 13-or-more home games and the 28th time overall in program history.
Double-Figure Update
- Julian Reese (21) notched double figures for the 16th time this season and 23rd of his career. He has scored 10-plus in 11 of his last 13 games.
- Hakim Hart (20) scored in double figures for the 18th game this season and 42nd time in his career. This marks the 10th time in the last 13 games that he has scored 10-plus points.
- Donta Scott (18) notched his 16th game in double figures this season and the 61st of his career.
- Jahmir Young (11) recorded double figures points for the 14th consecutive game and 25th time this season. This marks the 100th time in his career that he has tallied double figures.
- Don Carey (10) reached double-figures for the seventh time this season and the 75th time of his career.
Hot First Half
- The Terps had their best shooting first half of the season at .731 (19-of-26). That marked Maryland's best first half shooting performance since also hitting .731 (19-of-26) at Illinois on Dec. 3, 2017 in a 92-91 overtime win.
- It was Maryland's best half overall since shooting .750 (18-of-24) vs Navy on Nov. 27, 2020 in the second half.
Donta In The Record Books
- Scott moved into No. 32 on the all-time scoring lists with 1,255 as he passed Lee Brawley who had 1,243 points from 1948-52 – and was the all-time leading scorer in Maryland history when he graduated in 1952. Next on the list at No. 31 is Bob Kessler (1,266 points from 1953-56).
- Scott remained at No. 20 in career rebounds with 665. Next on the list at No. 19 is Obinna Ekezie (671 points from 1995-99).
Terps Dominating The Series
- Maryland has won nine consecutive games in the series to lead 15-2 all-time.
- The Terps are now 8-1 in home games vs Minnesota all-time, winning the last four in a row dating to 2018.
Notes & News
- The Terps honored the 2022 Mayo Bowl Champion Maryland football team during the first half.
- Maryland's Academic All-Big Ten honorees were also recognized as well as World Wide Terps from the Maryland Made program.
Up Next
- The Terps will return home to host Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 12 PM. The game will be Senior Day for the Terps as the program will honor Don Carey, Patrick Emilien, Hakim Hart, Donta Scott, and Jahmir Young in a special pregame ceremony. The game will be televised on BTN and fans can listen on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
