Basketball

Maryland Blown Out By UCLA 87-60 For Third Straight Loss

With a chance to end its two-game slide at home, Maryland proved no match for UCLA as the Terps fell 87-60 in undoubtedly the most empty performance of the season.

With former Maryland players like Byron Mouton, Sean Mosley, Nik Canner-Medley and Drew Nicholas in the house, Maryland found itself in a similar spot as it did on Sunday afternoon versus Tennessee. Maryland dug itself into another first-half hole after shooting just 30.8% from the field and 2-of-11 from deep while UCLA turned eleven Maryland turnovers, including five from Jahmir Young, into an additional 15 points.

Maryland missed its first seven shots and opened the game just 3-of-19 from the field as UCLA quieted a sold-out Xfinity Center. That helped UCLA, who shot over 55% in the game and 59.1% in the first half, open the game with a 7-0 lead before Ian Martinez and Julian Reese found the bottom of the net but a 17-2 Bruins run would reclaim complete control in a run that spanned nearly five minutes. Maryland would show brief signs of life after consecutive buckets trimmed the deficit to 15 but the Bruins responded right back to build a 21-point, forcing another 30-second timeout from head coach Kevin Willard. After noting a desire to play both Ike Cornish and Noah Batchelor more heading into the game, Willard turned to Cornish in the closing minutes of the first half in an effort to jumpstart the offense as Maryland would find the bottom of the net on five of its last seven shots of the first half. Still, the Bruins’ hot shooting nullified Maryland’s progress as UCLA took a 49-20 lead into the locker room.

It didn’t get better in the second half after Julian Reese was ruled out for the remainder of the game due to a shoulder injury, allowing UCLA to dominate the Terps in the paint 44-16. UCLA built a lead as many as 38 points and with the game out of reach, Willard gave his younger contributors a chance to build experience with Noah Batchelor and Caelum Swanton-Rodger soaking in extended time. After UCLA built a 35-point lead heading into the first TV timeout, fans began filing out of the Xfinity Center.

Despite trailing for just over eight minutes through the first eight games of the season, UCLA held the lead for nearly 37 minutes on Wednesday night to mark the first time this season that Maryland was completely outmatched.

Maryland will enjoy an eight-day break before returning home to host Saint Peters on Thursday, December 22 at 6:30 PM.

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