With Binghamton’s defense not yet in position, Jahmir Young sent a no-look pass to Julian Reese under the basket. With almost no one around him, Reese made the layup to bury the Bearcats by thirty points as Maryland’s crowd erupted with applause.
Maryland hosted its third straight game at Xfinity Center on Tuesday night, against the 2-0 Binghamton Bearcats of the America East conference. The Terps came in a heavy favorite, and they didn’t leave many blemishes.
“To win on the road in college basketball is really hard,” head coach Kevin Willard said in his post-game presser. “So we wanted to make sure we came out with an intensity where [Binghamton] knew they weren’t going to win.”
With Binghamton turning the ball over on its first two possessions, Maryland took control early with an eight-point lead before the Bearcats responded. Unfortunately for Binghamton, Maryland’s lead would only build from there.
Binghamton struggled to maintain possession of the ball in the first half. In just the first five minutes of gameplay, Maryland forced seven turnovers on the Bearcats. There would only be two more Binghamton turnovers for the rest of the half.
“Once we got our fast break points, it was easier for us to have in the back of our minds that we didn’t need to play as aggressive,” Donta Scott said.
The score at halftime was 44-23, with Maryland nearly doubling Binghamton’s points.
Hakim Hart and Julian Reese broke away as Maryland’s point leaders in the first half, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively. Binghamton’s star player of the half was John McGriff, who was responsible for 10 of the Bearcats’ 23 points.
“This is the way [Reese] practices every day, so this is not surprising to me,” Willard said. “I do think he should have more assists, so I think that’s something I’ll get on him for a little bit.”
Maryland shot for 52.6% in the first half, making 20 out of its 38 shots. Binghamton only made nine of its 25 shot attempts, finishing the half at 36%. Both teams had an apparent problem making threes, each shooting just 20% from beyond the arc.
Binghamton continued to struggle to find the basket in the second half. In the first seven minutes of play, the Bearcats only managed to put up six points— not nearly at the pace they needed to catch up with Maryland.
With eleven minutes to play, Maryland finally doubled Binghamton, 62-31.
In a lackluster second half, Binghamton cut the gap by only four points until time expired. The final score was 76-49, Maryland.
Julian Reese led the team with 19 points, making eight out of nine field goals. Hakim Hart finished with 13, and Donta Scott followed up with ten. Reese, Hart, and Scott also led the team in rebounds, with seven, eight, and nine, respectively.
“I wouldn’t say we are all the way there yet,” Reese said. “But every day we’re improving, with the stuff that [coach] tries to teach us. We’re all kind of locking into what he has in store for us.”
