Andre Mills' double-double highlights Maryland men's basketball's season opening win vs. Bucknell

14 hours ago

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Maryland men's basketball overcame a slow start to cruise past Bucknell, 96-67, on Monday night.

Andre Mills recorded his second double-double as a Terp after notching 22 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes, doing so while shooting 66.7% from the field, while Kaden House added 14 points and a pair of steals in 18 minutes. Pharrel Payne registered the bulk of his production in the first half, while Maryland outscored Bucknell by 32, including 28 offensive boards to Bucknell's six.

Head coach Buzz Williams turned to a starting five featuring DJ Wagner, Andre Mills, Mike McNair Jr., Tomislav Buljan and Pharrel Payne. Yet the concern stemmed from the struggles to score from the field on Monday night.

Andre Mills would prove to be the early source of offense, yet Mike McNair's three roughly three minutes into the game would prove to be the start of the cold streak. Maryland would score six points -- all from the free throw line -- over the next eight minutes and 16 seconds until Andre Mills' layup kept Maryland narrowly ahead by a possession.

With Bucknell ahead by two, McNair's three with seven minutes left would spark the next run as Maryland responded with a 10-0 run. Bucknell would respond with a three, but Bishop Boswell would answer with one of his own that pushed Maryland ahead, 36-28, and forced Bucknell to call timeout.

That sparked the first of three made threes by Maryland, courtesy of Boswell, then Robert Jennings Jr., then Mills, as Maryland closed the first half on a 21-5 run over the final seven minutes.

Kaden House would replace DJ Wagner in the sstarting lineup to begin the second half, which once again featured similar platoon-style substitutions, yet also an onslaught from Maryland. DJ Wagner would show more aggression in the paint and converted at the rim on consecutive possessions, setting up Andre Mills to do so similar to spearhead an 8-0 run. After Bucknell answered with a three, Kaden House delivered a one-hand slam from the baseline that pushed Maryland's lead to 24 points.

Maryland pushed the lead to as many as 29 points and led by at least 20 points for the final 13:52 en route to the win.

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