Hakim Hart swung the ball to Donta Scott at the top of the arc, who took a single bounce before swishing the ball through the net. Just four minutes into the second half, the Terps had already knocked down five three-pointers to bury their opponent.
After beating Coppin State 95-79 last Friday in College Park, the Terps hit the road for their first true road test against the 0-6 Louisville Cardinals. Maryland entered the ACC/Big Ten Challenge game as one of just three unbeaten schools in the Big Ten.
“I’m proud of the staff. The staff got here in April and worked extremely, extremely hard to put together a roster that can go on the road and win by 30, and play neutral site games and win by 30. And I’m really proud of these guys,” head coach Kevin Willard said in his post-game presser.
Louisville started out on pace with Maryland, answering on back-to-back possessions to prevent the Terps from pulling away early. Regardless, Maryland’s shooting percentage became too overwhelming for Louisville to keep up with Jahmir Young leading the Terps early, accounting for seven of the team’s first 11 points.
“I think that was the best game [Jahmir] has played so far for us,” Willard said. “I think he’s starting to understand his role as a point guard. At Charlotte, he was more of a combo guard, more of a scoring guard.”
The Terps went on a 13-0 run to create some distance from the Cardinals about halfway into the first half. Louisville knocked down two points to keep the score within 12 points, and it would slowly lessen Maryland’s lead as halftime drew closer.
Turnovers were an apparent issue for the Cardinals in the first half, accompanied by inefficiency on offense. Louisville had seven turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the first half, while also shooting for 32% with just a single assist on the board.
Maryland led at the half, 37-26. The point leaders for the Terps were Donta Scott (12) and Jahmir Young (11). The Terps shot 47% in the first period, making 14 of their 30 shots.
For Louisville, El Ellis led in points at the half, but Brandon Huntley-Hatfield trailed close behind (6). The Cardinals shot for a mere 38%, making just one of seven three-point attempts.
“They don’t play that many guards,” Coach Willard said. “It’s like they play [Ellis] and four big guys, so it was kind of simple making him score difficult twos.”
Hakim Hart got things started for Maryland in the second period by knocking down a three-pointer to put the Terps up by 14. Donta Scott managed a three-pointer on the next possession, and then, Hart would score another three on the following one. Louisville called a timeout to stop the momentum, but after the timeout, Donald Carey and Donta Scott scored two more.
After fouling out last game against Coppin State, Julian Reese found himself with three fouls just a minute into the second period, forcing him to play cautiously for the remainder of the game.
Maryland advanced its lead by 30 points in the second half, with its shooting percentage surpassing 50% early in the period. Louisville, on the other hand, saw its shooting percentage decrease as the Cardinals began taking poor shot opportunities on quick possessions. The Cardinals sat just above 30% with six minutes left to play.
Donta Scott (18) and Jahmir Young (15) finished as the point leaders for Maryland, with Ian Martinez trailing close behind (10). The Terps shot for 50%, completing 28 of 56 shot attempts.
“I think [Donta] is getting used to me, getting used to what I want from him, getting used to the offense,” Coach Willard said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence, the way he should be because he’s worked very hard.”
The final score was 79-54, Maryland.
