Maryland beats Alcorn St. in "tune-up" game following loss to Georgetown

Chase King
19 hours ago
3 min read

Coming off a 70-60 home-opening loss to Georgetown, the Maryland Terrapins took on the Alcorn State Braves in their third game of the year, where they would win 84-64.

“This game was important to us because it was more like a tune-up,” said redshirt freshman Andre Mills.

Mills helped lead the team on both ends. He finished the game with 16 points, 8 rebounds– including 3 offensive rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

In the Terps' loss to Georgetown, they shot only 25% from the field, the lowest field goal percentage of a Maryland team since 2023.

The shooting was going to be a big concern coming into the game against Alcorn State, and the Terps would start slow in that department. They shot 39.3% from the field and 2-for-14 from the three-point line in the first half.

That would lead to a close halftime score, with the Terps leading only 33-27 against the ranked 338 team on KenPom, despite leading by 19 points at one point.

The Terps would get the early 19-point lead over Alcorn State in the first half through paint touches to senior Pharrel Payne, senior Elijah Saunders, junior Isaiah Watts, and a three-pointer from Graduate Student David Coit.

“They were playing drop on everything. So, in my opinion, we probably have the best big in the league. So, if you see his number, throw him the ball. If you see [Elijah Saunders] number, throw him the ball,” said Mills on big men senior Pharrel Payne and senior Elijah Saunders.

Payne would lead the Terps in scoring for the third time this season after ending the game with 22 points on 8-for-10 from the field.

The Terps lead 29-10 with 8:28 left in the first half before the offense would go stagnant in the last 8 minutes of the first half, allowing for Alcorn State to find their way back into the game after ending the half on a 17-4 run.

“I think we probably played 25 minutes the way we want to play,” said Williams.

At the start of the second half, the Terps would match their largest lead of the game at 19 points following a 15-2 run out of the half.

The Terps would shoot efficiently in the second half, shooting 60.7% from the field and 6-for-14 on threes. Against Georgetown, the Terps would end the second half shooting 27% from the field and 2-for-8 from three.

The Terps would end the game with 17 turnovers, the highest number for the Terps so far this season, a big reason why Alcorn State was able to stay in the game. Alcorn State scored 20 of their 64 points off Maryland turnovers.

“We played with too high of a turnover rate,” said Williams, “at some point, we’re going to have to play where we have more assists than turnovers. We’re not quite there yet.”

Despite that, the Terps would play their best game on the defensive end, limiting the Braves to 64 points on 44% shooting and causing 21 turnovers, their most in a game this season.

The Terps wouldn’t be able to break open the game until there was 6:00 left, when the Terps went on a 12-0 run to bring the lead to 24.

Maryland now has until Saturday to get ready for a big road game against Williams’ alma mater, Marquette.

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