The Maryland men’s basketball team jumped on Saint Peter’s early and often en route to a convincing 75-45 victory after three straight losses.
The Terps (9-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) lost to Wisconsin, Tennessee and UCLA within the span of nine days earlier this month, but they had a seven-day break heading into the Saint Peter’s contest.
“I think the biggest thing was just giving these guys some rest,” head coach Kevin Willard said after the Saint Peter’s win. “… So to give them three days off after the UCLA game, I think that’s why we looked a little rough offensively, but I think defensively they kind of got there. They were locked in on the scouting report.”
Sophomore big man Julian Reese missed the game because of a shoulder injury, but graduate transfer forward Patrick Emilien stepped in and Maryland didn’t miss a beat. Emilien finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Emilien even had a team-high plus-minus (plus-39).
“Patrick has been awesome all year but unfortunately for him, he’s like a walking Band-Aid,” Willard said. “… When he’s in rhythm and consistent he’s been really good all year. It’s just that he hasn’t been healthy, so I’m hoping this time off kind of gets him ready.”
“I knew [Reese] had a shoulder injury, so I knew for a couple of days now,” Emilien said about when he found out he was starting. “Didn’t change anything, just out there with the team playing my same role.”
Another new development came when junior guard Ian Martinez replaced graduate guard Don Carey in the starting lineup. Willard mentioned after the UCLA game that Martinez getting more minutes would be the “norm going forward,” and he followed through against Saint Peter’s. Martinez played 21 minutes.
“I was trying to see if I can get Jahari [Long] and Don on the court so that when we sub we’re not having a drop-off,” Willard said. “I’m trying to experiment. When I put Don in know I’m putting someone in that can be a scorer and that’s a veteran with Jahari.”
Martinez finished with seven points and three boards.
“Just come out with energy, especially on the defensive side,” Martinez said. “Just go out there and speed up the game. Get our energy going. That was kind of my job. Not having slow starts, especially defensively, which will follow with our offense and we will get into our offensive rhythm.”
Maryland’s defense was all over Saint Peter’s and forced several turnovers early in the game, including two shot-clock violations and a 10-second backcourt violation. The Terps finished with 14 points off turnovers off of 12 Peacock miscues in the first half alone. Maryland finished the game with 24 points off turnovers off of 17 miscues.
Saint Peter’s, however, was able to keep itself in the game for much of the first half until an inadvertent elbow to the face of senior guard Hakim Hart sparked a run by Maryland to pull away. Once Hart was elbowed, he followed it by scoring five straight points, leading to a 19-point lead at halftime.
Hart finished with a team-high 18 points.
“I got on Hakim Hart pretty hard these last three days because he is the difference-maker,” Willard said. “When he’s engaged he just gives us such a different dimension offensively, and even defensively.”
“[Hart] came over and he was complaining that he had got elbowed and I got on him just a little bit and we had a man-to-man conversation,” the coach added. “He’s a difference-maker when he plays like that. He’s an all-[conference]-level guard.”
Hart and the Terps continued to pile on points in the second half. Maryland began the second half hot from the field and even from beyond the arc. The Terps shot 9-for-11 (5-for-6 from 3-point range) while on a 13-3 run.
Maryland built its largest lead of the game (36 points) after a 23-4 second-half run.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox