As Jaelin Llewellyn’s three-pointer banked home to give Michigan a 12-point halftime lead over Maryland, a scatter of boos could be heard throughout the Xfinity Center as the Terps sulked into the locker room.
Maryland just showcased one of its most disappointing halves of the season. An 8-for-24 shooting effort, which included only one made three-pointer in 11 attempts, allowed Michigan to use an extended 14-2 run to leap ahead of the Terps prior to halftime.
The Terps looked looked like they were well on their way to a third consecutive loss, second straight at home, and a 1-4 conference start.
The team that exited that same locker room clearly had a different outcome in mind. Spearheaded by Donta Scott, Maryland clawed its way back and eventually surged ahead for a massive comeback win, 64-57.
“We struggled in the first half, and [Scott] was upset with himself at halftime, and he came out and he was very animated in the huddle before we went out, and he just did what a senior does,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said.
Scott, who scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, knocked down four of Maryland’s seven three-pointers. His final one gave the Terps a 52-50 lead with just over seven minutes to play, and they never relinquished it.
“I feel like [my team] lifted me up,” Scott said. “Once I got going and the energy started kicking in, everyone started to feed off my energy, that’s when we just started going and getting better and better on the defensive end, and the offense just started coming to us.”
Maryland closed the game on a 6-0 run, despite being held without a field goal over the final 4:49.
After connecting on five first-half threes, Michigan failed to make one in the second half. The Wolverines made only two of their final 10 field goal attempts down the stretch as Maryland tightened its screws on the defensive end.
The full-court press that Willard frequently implemented seemed to cause issues for Michigan in the second half.
“I think that’s the way we have to play,” Willard said of his teams hectic defensive effort. “We’ve gone from a zone press to man, we also put a three-quarter court press in just because we’re bigger than we were last year. We just haven’t been as effective as we were with the same press, so we’re trying to press. We also haven’t scored enough, … when you miss seven shots in a row and then you have to press it’s a little bit different.”
After consecutive losses to Purdue and Minnesota, the Terps were given a golden opportunity to get back on track against a Michigan team that was without the services of its leading scorer Dug McDaniel, who was serving the first of his six-game road suspension on Thursday night.
Maryland jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, as Scott threw down a thunderous slam in transition to begin what had the potential of being a high-scoring affair. This was evidently not the case, as the teams combined to shoot 5-of-20 from the field in the first eight minutes.
Michigan started to build some momentum in the middle stages, using a six-minute Maryland scoring drought to go on an 8-0 run. The Terps were 1-10 from the field and 0-7 from three over the stretch.
Olivier Nkamhoua poured in 18 points for the Wolverines, becoming the top scoring option in McDaniels’ absence. The Tennessee transfer was active on the glass as well, grabbing seven rebounds.
A nice sequence from DeShawn Harris-Smith gave Maryland a jolt, as the freshman created a turnover, drew an offensive foul, and made a layup in a 30-second span, to give the Terps a brief lead.
“I feel like I had a different mindset, just to go out there and play” Harris-Smith said. “I feel like when I go out there and just play 100% good things are going to happen for me. I feel like I’m a scrappy player, I’m going to take charges, get steals and stuff like that.”
“I just believe in basketball karma,” he added.
Harris-Smith’s effort seemed to be a moot point as the first half came to a close, as Michigan stifled any Maryland momentum.
The disappointing performance caused a clamoring from the fans that encapsulated the frustration that has surrounded this Maryland basketball team, a squad that entered the 2023-24 campaign with sky-high expectations.
The Terps needed something to change if they wanted to avoid falling to 1-4 in conference play.
“We watched film at halftime,” Willard said. “We just watched our offense. We missed eight open shots in the first half. That’s all we do at halftime. I don’t yell, we just make adjustments off film.”
The halftime adjustments made by Willard proved to be crucial, as Maryland started the second half 6-12 from the field and with a newfound energy.
After a quiet first half, Julian Reese started to find a groove on both ends of the floor over the final 20 minutes.
Reese scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half, but it was his five block-three steal defensive effort that impacted the outcome the most.
“I think he’s the best big man in the country, and I expect him to play like that all the time,” Willard said of Reese. “So anything that he does doesn’t surprise me, that’s just Julian.”
Maryland outscored Michigan 43-24 in the second half to improve to 10-6 on the season and 2-3 in conference play. Michigan falls to 6-10 and 1-4 in conference play in the loss.
The Terps will now be tasked with capturing the ever-elusive road victory with trips to Illinois and Northwestern upcoming. Maryland has won only one conference road game under Kevin Willard.
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