COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland men's basketball cruised past Alcorn State, winning 96-58 on Sunday at XFINITY Center. The Terps (7-1) have won 21 consecutive home games against unranked non-conference foes.
Maryland won its fifth game by 30 or more points for the fifth time this season, doing so in just eight games. The last time the Terps had that many wins by 30 or more that early in the season was 1998-99, when the Terps won five of their first seven games by 30-plus points.
Derik Queen led all scorers with 20 points. He also tallied nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. It was his fourth 20-point game this season, which is tied with Rutgers' Dylan Harper for most by a freshman in Division I this season. He's just the third Maryland freshman with four 20-point games in a season since 2010-11 – and he's only in his eighth game. Melo Trimble was the last to do it with 10 in the 2014-15 season, joining Terrell Stoglin with four in 2010-11.
Julian Reese provided an all-around effort with 14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. He earned the 25th double-double of his career and his third of the season. Since 2010-11, Reese is tied with Bruno Fernando and Jordan Williams for most double-doubles for a Terp. Since 1996-97, he's tied for the fifth most.
Queen (8-of-8) and Reese (10-of-12) combined for 18-of-20 from the free-throw line as Maryland was 21-of-24 overall for 87.5 percent.
Selton Miguel had one of his best games as a Terp this far, scoring 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the three-point line.
Rodney Rice added 12 points while handing out a career-high five assists, and
DeShawn Harris-Smith recorded his first double-digit scoring game this season with 10 points to round out double-figure scoring factors.
Tafara Gapare also had a monster stat line of nine points, eight rebounds and six blocks (career-high). It was the most blocks in a game by a Terp since Reese had six against Nicholls State last season.
With the game tied at 20-20 with 8:42 left in the first half, the Terps used a 13-0 run to take control of the game late in the first half. The spurt expanded to 24-2 over a five-minute span to put the Terps ahead 44-22 with three minutes left in the first half. Four different players made a three-pointer in that run.
Alcorn State remains winless this season, falling to 0-9. Keionte Cornelius led the Braves with 12 points. The last time Maryland lost to an unranked non-conference opponent was Dec. 1, 2021, against Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Coach Willard's Take
"We shot almost fifty-percent from three, so your ball movement looks a lot better when you have guys that can make shots. That was one of our issues last season. We were seventh in the country in open shots and we were 340th in making them. This year it's just different. We have Rodney, Selton, Ja'Kobi, and Jay all making shots. The ball movement is good and we are getting to them, but the biggest difference is our guys are making shots."
Breaking Down The Action
- The Terps led 11-4 at the first media timeout. Four players entered the scoring column, and Julian Reese led the pack with four points — all coming from the free-throw line.
- Alcorn State sparked a 9-0 run to lead 13-11 at 13:03 in the first. At the second first-half media timeout, Maryland trailed 16-14. DeShawn Harris-Smith came off the bench to provide a quick three points.
- A layup by Rodney Rice at 9:19 restored the lead for the Terps at 20-18. Rice then drilled a 3-pointer to help key a 9-0 run heading into the third first-half media timeout. Maryland led 29-20.
- The run expanded to 24-2 over a five-minute span to put the Terps ahead 44-22 with three minutes left in the first half. Four players made a three-pointer in that run, and four tallied eight or more points.
- The Braves ignited a 9-0 run of their own before Selton Miguel nailed a 3-pointer to end it. The Terps led 48-31 at halftime, paced by Miguel's 11 points.
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie threw an alley-oop to Jay Young, which he threw down with a dunk. The Terps were rolling with a 55-32 advantage at the first second-half media timeout (17:44).
- Alcorn State responded with a 10-0 run to trail 58-44. However, a layup by Reese ended the run at 14:03.
- A 3-pointer by Malachi Palmer gave Maryland back a 20-point lead at 69-49. It later stretched its lead to the largest of the game.
- Maryland led by more than 30 after sparking a 23-2 run, leading to an Alcorn State timeout. It led 89-51 and cruised to victory the rest of the way.
Dominating Victories
- Maryland won its fifth game by 30 or more points for the fifth time this season, doing so in just eight games. The last time the Terps had that many wins by 30 or more that early in the season was 1998-99, when the Terps won five of their first seven games by 30-plus points.
- The Terps have beaten their six non-power conference opponents by an average of 38.0 points this season, which is the sixth-highest margin of victory in the nation.
- The Terps are averaging 90.6 points against non-power conference opponents. Maryland has dominated in all facets of these games, including outscoring those foes by 41.6 on points in the paint, 32.7 on points off the bench and 20.7 on fast-break points.
Double-Figure Factors
- Freshman Derik Queen scored 20 points for double-digit points for the seventh time in his career. He also accomplished the feat in six straight games.
- Selton Miguel scored 14 points and earned his 66th career game in double figures. It was his fifth as a Terp this season. He leads the Terps with 1,265 career points in his five-year career.
- Julian Reese recorded 14 points for his 61st career game in double digits. He has scored double figures for the fifth time this season and in four straight games.
- Rodney Rice netted 12 points and scored in double digits for his ninth career game. It was his sixth game in double figures as a Terp this season.
- DeShawn Harris-Smith added 10 points for his eighth double-digit scoring game. He last scored double digits when he scored 16 points against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament second round on March 14.
Juju Beast
- Julian Reese scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the 25th double-double of his career. Last season, he posted 15 double-doubles, which were the ninth most nationally and stood second in the Big Ten during the regular season.
- Since 2010-11, Reese is tied with Bruno Fernando and Jordan Williams for most double-doubles for a Terp. Since 1996-97, he is tied for the fifth most. He also has three double-doubles this season.
- Reese ranks 13th on Maryland's all-time rebounds list. He now has 757 boards. Ekene Ibekwe (781 from 2003-07) is 12th on the list.
- The big man also blocked two shots and moved to ninth on Maryland's all-time blocked shots list. He has 133 in his career, passing Tahj Holden (132 in 1999-03) in ninth place. Eighth place is Travis Garrison (136 from 2002-06).
- He also entered the top 50 on the all-time scoring list, moving up to No. 49 with 1,117 points in his career. Duane Simpkins (1992-96) is 48th with 1,123 points.
- Reese finished last season with an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honor and was named to this season's Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List.
Home Cooking
- Maryland is 318-76 all-time at the XFINITY Center, including 33-8 under Kevin Willard. Under Willard, the Terps have six home Top-25 victories, highlighted by the 2022-23 win over No. 3 Purdue.
- Maryland won a program-record 14 consecutive Big Ten conference games at XFINITY, including all 10 games in 2022-23 and the final three of 2021-22.
- Maryland's 16-1 home record in 2022-23 was the best since 2019-20 and the eighth time overall that the Terps had won 16 or more games at home. In both 2012-13 and 2014-15, the Terps won 18 games at home, going 18-3 and 18-1, respectively.
- The Terps have won 21 consecutive home games against unranked non-conference foes. The last time Maryland lost to an unranked non-conference opponent was Dec. 1, 2021, against Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Numbers And Nuggets
- 4: Derik Queen has four 20-point games this season.
- 4: Maryland is on a four-game win streak.
- 5: This marked the fifth game this season where five or more players hit a 3-pointer.
- 5: This was Maryland's fifth win by 30 or more points this season.
- 5: Rodney Rice had a career-high five assists.
- 6: Tafara Gapare had six blocks in the game, the most for a Terp since Julian Reese had six last season against Nicholls State.
- 7: Maryland is 7-1 this season.
- 21: The Terps have won 21 consecutive home games against unranked non-conference foes.
- 21.4: The Terps have scored 21.4 points per game off turnovers this season. The number ranks sixth among all Power Conference teams in the nation.
- 25: The Terps dished out a season-high 25 assists.
- 25: Julian Reese recorded the 25th double-double of his career.
- 38.0: The Terps have beaten their six non-power conference opponents by an average of 38.0 points this season.
- 90.6: The Terps are averaging 90.6 points per game against non-power conference opponents this season.
- 1,265: Selton Miguel leads the Terps with 1,265 career points in his five-year career.
Series History
- In three games played, Maryland is 3-0 against Alcorn State and has scored over 100 points in each game.
- Maryland's record 87-game non-conference home win streak began with the 1989 meeting against Alcorn State. The streak eventually ended against Florida on Dec. 14, 2002. That streak lasted 4,732 days (nearly 13 years).
- In the 1989 meeting, Tony Massenburg led the Terps with 20 points. Jesse Martin and Jerrod Mustaf each had double-doubles with 17 points/10 rebounds and 14 points/10 rebounds, respectively. Seven players total reached double figures: Evers Burns (17), Teyon McCoy (16), Walt Williams (10) and Vince Broadnax (10).
Up Next
- Maryland opens Big Ten play with a game at XFINITY Center against Ohio State on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The game will tip at 6:30 and be broadcast on Big Ten Network and Maryland Sports Radio Network.
