BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Kevin Willard’s first foray into the NCAA Tournament at Maryland didn’t go the way he or the Terps had envisioned at the start.
After two quick baskets, Maryland went ice cold during its first-round game against West Virginia on March 16, going scoreless for a stretch of more than seven minutes in the first half.
The Mountaineers took advantage of that stretch, building a 13-point lead with 10:14 left in the half. Momentum had turned against Maryland, but even after that scoreless stretch, the Terps fought their way out of that early hole, mounting a 16-2 run to take a 22-21 lead.
From down and out to out in front, Maryland wouldn’t let up. The Terps survived, advancing to the Round of 32 with a 67-65 win. It was the Julian Reese show in the second half, as the sophomore big man scored 13 points in the half to finish the game with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
Maryland will face No. 1 overall seed Alabama in the second round on March 18.
“I’m more excited for the kids than I am for me,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “This group, I’ve talked about a lot. This group, they have come together, they have asked to do everything that I’ve asked them to do. They have had a great attitude. They have had an unbelievable work ethic.
“You know, we have been down all year at certain points in the game. They have never turned on each other. They just have a great attitude.”
For as poorly as Maryland began the game, it regrouped offensively, shooting 55 percent from the field in the first half and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Balanced offense carried the Terps through the first half, with four players scoring five or more points. Seniors Jahmir Young and Hakim Hart led the pack with seven points each. Maryland took a 32-30 lead into the half.
“I just told my team to just keep fighting,” senior forward Donta Scott said of the slow start. “You get down, you don’t want to get down on yourselves. At that time, it’s battle time. Time to lock in. Do some of the things that you probably weren’t doing before — 50-50 ones, losing those battles. Just get after it. My team had my back, and they just grinded with me, and stuck it out and had that toughness in them. And just battled.”
It was the kind of game that saw West Virginia jump out to sizable leads, only for Maryland to storm right back to take leads of its own. But after the Terps started out the second half on a 6-1 run to go up seven points, the Mountaineers went off for a stretch of 3:30, going on a 16-3 run.
Maryland’s seven-point lead quickly turned into a nine-point deficit after West Virginia capped off the run with three-straight 3-pointers, but the Terps roared back after the under-12 media timeout, going on a 9-0 run to take a 52-51 lead.
Maryland got the last laugh and held on for dear life after putting together an 8-0 run down 59-56 to take a five-point lead, punctuated by an emphatic two-handed dunk from Reese.
“Everybody has butterflies in their stomach coming out for the first game, especially against such a physical team that we’re not used to from a different conference,” Reese said. “I feel like watching the film and after the first half we adjusted well, and I adjusted well, and I feel like I was able to elevate my game and elevated my team. Doing things off the ball like passing, screening, rebounding. Doing the things that help us get the win.”
Officiating, something Willard talked about before the Terps’ open practice on March 15, took center stage in the second half, with both teams in the double-bonus by the under-8 media timeout.
Senior forward Jimmy Bell Jr. fouled out for the Mountaineers with 10:16 left. Both Young and junior guard Ian Martinez had to sit for prolonged periods for the Terps after picking up their fourth personal fouls early in the second half. The production the Terps got from the bench helped propel them to the Round of 32.
As the seconds ticked down, Maryland had a chance to go up three points with Young at the line. Young made one of two, giving the Terps a two-point lead and the Mountaineers a chance for a buzzer-beater.
“If he made both, we still weren’t going to foul with 4.2 seconds. You have to play it out,” Willard said. “You have to hope, and I thought when he missed it, that’s a lot — 4.7 [seconds] is a lot of time. But we match up. If you can give up a one-footed runner at the end of the game, you’ll take it.”
Fifth-year guard Kedrian Johnson got the ball, came down the court and pulled up from three as time expired, but his shot clanked off the rim as the Terps escaped, keeping their NCAA tournament run alive.
“It means a lot to move on,” Hart said, “because this is what you work for since the summer began. Just take it one game at a time.”
Photo Credit: Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Athletics