COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland men's basketball scored the first 15 points of the game on its way to an 84-53 wire-to-wire victory over Florida A&M on Monday at XFINITY Center. The Terps advanced to 3-0 and have now won 12 straight home non-conference games and 18 consecutive against unranked non-conference foes.
Winning by a margin of 31 points, the Terps have won each of their first three games by 30 or more points for the first time in program history. The last time the Terps started the season with even two games scoring more than 30 points was during the 2014-15 season.
Julian Reese led the way with 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Maryland has had a different player score 20 or more points in each of the first three games for just the third time since the 1999-00 season.
The 15-0 scoring spurt to begin the game was also Maryland's longest unanswered scoring run to start a game since Maryland scored the first 16 points against Cornell on Jan 3, 2012.
Transfers Selton Miguel, Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice provided excellent performances to flank Reese. Miguel tallied his second straight game in double-figures, scoring 14 points. Gillespie (12) and Rice (10) are the only Terps to drop double-digit points in each of the first three games this season.
Freshman Derik Queen rounded out double-digit scorers with 11. The last time the Terps had five players score double figures was Dec. 6, 2023.
Maryland forced 22 turnovers and scored 31 of its points off of them. Over their last two games, the Terps have forced 47 turnovers, the
most in consecutive games since forcing 49 from Nov. 8-10, 2010.
Florida A&M faltered to 0-3 on the season. Tyler Shirley led the Rattlers with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Willard's Take
"Defensively, I'm really happy with where we're at," head coach Kevin Willard said. "I think we're putting really good pressure. I think we're creating some turnovers. We're getting some deflections. … I liked our defensive intensity from the start. I thought it was really good. I thought we set the tone."
Reese On The Plethora Of Scoring Options
"I feel like it's helping us build trust in each other," Julian Reese said. "I feel like we're a versatile team where anybody can have a good night. Derik had a good first night, Rodney's second night off the bench was electric and I feel like tonight was just my night. Friday is probably gonna be somebody else's night. We just keep doing that, and we're gonna be good and staying on ourselves, we're gonna be great."
Breaking Down The Action
- The Terps opened the game on an 8-0 run, forcing FAMU to take a timeout. Maryland made its first three shots from the floor, and Selton Miguel converted an and-1.
- Maryland scored 15 points before the Rattlers got on the board. Twelve of its points came off turnover. However, Florida A&M ignited a 12-2 run before Julian Reese ended it with a layup. The Terps led 19-12 at 11:35.
- The Terrapins led 40-21 entering the locker room. They made six of their last seven shots and were led by Reese's 12 points and Miguel's 11. Maryland was dominating the turnover margin 13-4.
- Maryland extended its lead to 50-24 at the second-half media timeout. It began the half on a 10-0 run, and Ja'Kobi Gillespie joined the double-digit scoring party.
- Derik Queen converted an and-1 at 11:06, and the Terps led 67-30. He later dunked on a fastbreak and became the fifth Terp of the night to score in double figures.
- The Terps closed the game by holding onto their commanding win and earning its third consecutive victory to start the season.
Double-Figure Factors
- Julian Reese recorded 21 points for his 57th career game in double digits. His last time accomplishing the feat was when he scored 10 points against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament second round on March 14.
- Selton Miguel scored 14 points and earned his 63rd career game in double figures. It was his second as a Terp since transferring from South Florida.
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored 12 points and earned his 43rd career game in double figures. It was his third game in double digits since transferring from Belmont.
- Freshman Derik Queen scored 11 points for double-digit points for the second time in his career.
- Rodney Rice netted 10 points and scored in double digits for his sixth career game. It was his third game in a row in double figures after transferring from Virginia Tech.
- Maryland last had five players score in double figures on Dec. 6, 2023, against Alcorn State. Six players did it in that game (Reese - 15, Jahmir Young - 13, DeShawn Harris-Smith - 12, Jordan Geronimo - 12, Jamie Kaiser, Jr. - 12 and Jahnathan Lamothe - 10).
Crushing The Competition
- Winning by a margin of 31 points against Florida A&M, the Terps have won each of their first three games by 30 or more points for the first time in program history. They defeated Manhattan by 30 in the season opener and Mount St. Mary's by 34 in their last outing.
- Dating back to 1996-97, only four Big Ten teams have produced three or more 30-point wins to start a season: 1997-98 Iowa (4), 2022-23 Illinois (3), 2012-13 Michigan (3), 2004-05 Michigan State (3). Over the previous five seasons, dating back to 2019-20, it has happened 11 times nationally, with Butler, Houston, Oklahoma, and UConn all doing so last season.
- The closest the Terps came to the feat was in 1972-73 (127-82 vs. Brown, 82-50 at Richmond, and 107-80 at Canisius) and 1975-76 (127-84 vs. East Carolina, 99-42 vs. DePauw, 98-71 at Richmond).
- The last time the Terps started the season with even two games scoring more than 30 points was during the 2014-15 season.
Offensive Juggernauts
- Julian Reese scored 21 points, meaning Maryland has had a different player score 20 or more points in each of the first three games for just the third time since the 1999-00 season. Derik Queen scored 22 in the season opener against Manhattan, and Rodney Rice tallied a career-high 28 against Mount St. Mary's in Maryland's last outing.
- In 2001-02, Maryland saw Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Steve Blake all have 20-point games to open the year, while in 1990-00, Dixon, Terence Morris and Drew Nicholas did so. In each of those seasons, Dixon had 20 points in each of the first three games.
Defense!
- Maryland has held all three of its opponents to 53 or fewer points this season. All three opponents have been held to less than 40.5 percent from the floor, with Florida A&M shooting 39.2 percent.
- The combined 47 forced turnovers by Maryland in the last two games - with 22 vs Florida A&M - are the most in consecutive games since forcing 49 from Nov. 8-10, 2010.
- The Terps have 27 steals in the last two games, the most in a two-game span since recording 27 between two games on Nov. 13-17, 2009.
Juju Beast
- Julian Reese scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, falling just short of a double-double. Last season, he posted 15 double-doubles, which were the ninth most nationally and stood second in the Big Ten during the regular season.
- Reese ranks 16th on Maryland's all-time rebounds list. He now has 713 boards, breaking a tie with Johnny Rhodes (1992-96). He's nearing 15th place Albert King (715 in 1977-81).
- The big man also blocked one shot and ranks 10th on Maryland's all-time blocked shots list. He has 128 in his career and is nearing Tahj Holden (132 in 1999-03) in ninth place.
- Reese finished last season with an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honor and was named to this season's Preseason All-Big Ten Team and the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List.
Numbers And Nuggets
- 1: Braden Pierce scored his first career point.
- 3: Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice scored double figures in each of their first three games as Terps.
- 3: The Terps are 3-0 to start the season.
- 5: Five Terps tallied double-digit points in the game.
- 12: Maryland has won 11 straight home non-conference games.
- 15: Maryland opened the game on a 15-0 run. This was its longest unanswered scoring run to begin a game since Maryland scored the first 16 points against Cornell on Jan 3, 2012.
- 18: The Terps have won 18 consecutive games against unranked non-conference foes.
- 47: The Terps have forced 47 turnovers over their last two games.
Up Next
- Maryland welcomes No. 18 Marquette to XFINITY Center on Friday, Nov. 15. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. and be broadcast on FS1 and Maryland Sports Radio Network.
