In the final game of the 2023 calendar year, Maryland basketball welcomed in-state foe Coppin State into College Park on Thursday night for its final non-conference tuneup before Big Ten play resumes on Jan. 2.
One game after winning its first road game of the season, Maryland overpowered a clearly outmatched Coppin State squad, 75-53, for its fifth consecutive win.
Jahmir Young, who poured in a career-high 37 points in the victory over UCLA on Dec. 22, was unable to play with an illness.
In his absence, Jahari Long earned the start and scored a career-high 15 points on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
“Obviously Jahmir has been phenomenal and I love Jahmir, but I have a lot of confidence in Jahari,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “It was a good opportunity for him to kind of step in and see what he can do and take advantage of the opportunity. He’s now technically a senior, so he was ready for it.”
“His offensive game has gotten much better, and I think he’s got more confidence in his offensive game,” Willard added. “He really is the one guy off the bounce that can beat anybody off the dribble, so I think he’s starting to realize the skill he has, the game he has, and the more minutes he gets I think the more confidence he gets.”
After only scoring one point and eventually fouling out in Maryland’s win over UCLA, Julian Reese shook off the lackluster performance and regained the dominance he has shown throughout the first half of the season on Thursday night.
Reese, who scored a career-high 24 points against Coppin State last season, was stellar yet again against the Eagles, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half.
“I feel like the last couple of games I’ve kind of been a little rusty, shaking stuff off and left some points out there, left some rebounds out there. I feel like I could have been better, but I feel like this was a good game to build the confidence, not only for me but for the team,” Reese said.
After falling behind 4-0 to start the game, Maryland scored 11 straight points to jump ahead, thanks to five early points from Long.
“I was just focused on being confident and leading the team in the right direction,” Long said of learning that he would start on Thursday. “The confidence came from me being healthy.”
Coppin State was ice-cold from the field following the run, failing to score for nearly eight minutes of play. The Terps used an extended 17-2 run to build its lead and turned nine first-half turnovers into nine points.
Despite shooting just 3-of-13 from three-point range in the first half, Maryland took a commanding 20-point lead into halftime.
“I think the guys came out very professional,” Willard said. “We didn’t practice great yesterday, but you never do with three days off. They respected [Coppin State] and wanted to come out and play well. I think the biggest thing was just making sure we came out and played the way we wanted to play.”
Coppin State shot just 32% from the field in the first half.
Reese continued his high-volume scoring quickly out of the break with two thunderous dunks. His performance allowed Maryland to dominate the paint, as the Terps outscored Coppin State 40-24 on the interior.
Justin Winston, Coppin State’s leading scorer, added the only real offensive firepower for the Eagles on Thursday night with 19 points. He entered the game as the lone double-figure scorer for the Eagles, averaging 13.7 points a game.
He scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half.
Alongside him were Greg Spurlock (13 points) and Toto Fagbenle (12 points) on the offensive end. The three were the only to enter the scoring column for the Eagles until the 4:09 mark of the second half.
Coppin State used an 10-0 run midway through the second half to slice what was once a 28-point deficit down to 18. Maryland went 1-of-9 from the field during the Eagles’ run and was held without a field goal for nearly five minutes.
The scoring droughts have remained an issue for the Terps, who did not make a field goal for over 11 minutes of play in the victory over UCLA. Although Maryland’s second-half scoring production was somewhat limited, the lead it constructed was too much for the Eagles to overcome.
With such a big lead, Willard was able to experiment with his supporting cast in the hopes of finding production outside of Young, Reese and Donta Scott in the final matchup before his team’s biggest test of the season.
Outside of Reese, Maryland’s big-men have a long way to go on both ends. Caelum Swanton-Rodger and Mady Traore saw a combined 20 minutes of action, but have yet to find a consistent groove.
Swanton-Rodger, who finished with nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field, only picked up two fouls on Thursday night, after fouling out of the UCLA game in only three minutes of play. His presence on the interior can only be felt if he can continue to limit his foul issue.
“He’s been practicing great, he’s starting to get his rhythm back. He’s progressing the way I hoped he would.” Willard said of Swanton-Rodger.
With the win, Maryland concluded non-conference play and improved to 9-4 on the season. The Terps have now won eight of their last nine games after after beginning the year 1-3.
Maryland will next face its biggest test of the season, as No. 1 Purdue comes to College Park for a big-time clash on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. Maryland knocked off Purdue on Feb. 16, 2023 at Xfinity Center for its first top-five victory since 2016.
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