By Eddie Hobbs
The Maryland men’s basketball team defeated Randolph-Macon College 88-44 in its first official exhibition game before the regular season begins on Nov. 10. The Terps did take on Wake Forest in a secret scrimmage last week, and won 78-73, but that isn’t counted on the schedule. Cowan led Maryland with 17 points on 4-7 shooting in the secret scrimmage.
Maryland started off hot in the opening 10 minutes, as it shot 60 percent from the field, while limiting the Yellow Jackets to just 33 percent. Maryland was able to get to the free throw line 14 times in the first half as the Yellow Jackets could not control some of Maryland’s guards.
Mark Turgeon decided to test out his ‘big’ lineup throughout the first half and one of the most interesting lineups featured Sean Obi and Michael Cekovsky. Turgeon has noted that he wants to play bigger this season, especially down low, with guys like Ivan Bender, Cekovsky, Bruno Fernando and Obi getting more touches.
“We have a lot of length, and we’ve got a real big team. We can play small or we can play big, I feel like our length bothers teams a lot,” Justin Jackson said. “At the end of the day we have a lot of energy on our team. We have guys on our team that like doing the little things to help each other win.”
Freshman guard Darryl Morsell showed his potential throughout the first half, playing 14 minutes while adding 10 points and 2 assists. Morsell had a few highlights for Maryland in the first half, most notably this reverse layup.
So smooth Mr. Morsell 👏👏👏
The freshmen making it look easy at the rim, Terps lead 30-21, 3:55 remaining. #FTT pic.twitter.com/crlgxBkVSa
— Maryland Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) November 2, 2017
“Darryl is a big time athlete and one of the things he wanted to be able to do was play with a team where he could get to the rim,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “I think we space the floor pretty well and shoot it around so it allows him to do it. He also does a great job running our offense and finding guys…. Darryl has come a long way quickly.”
Maryland went on a 17-2 run to end the half and was up 47-23 over the Yellow Jackets. The Terps’ biggest advantage was their size, and it showed on the stat sheet as Maryland outrebounded Randolph-Macon 23-10.
In the second half, Morsell went up for a layup and came down awkwardly and needed attention from the coaching staff. Turgeon said after the game it was just cramping, and Morsell was able to come back into the game.
The Terps continued their dominant performance in the second half, leading the Yellow Jackets 75-35 with eight minutes remaining in the game. Maryland’s defense was pestering throughout the game and the energy was felt. The Terps did not let one Yellow Jacket starter have a positive plus/minus and Randolph-Macon committed 20 turnovers in the game.
Maryland’s bench came in and finished the job late in the second half, as the Terps went on to beat Randolph-Macon 88-44. Maryland’s next game will be its regular season opener against Stony Brook on Nov. 10.
