Maryland men’s basketball led for 35 minutes on Friday night as the Terps snapped a two-game losing streak in a 79-61 win vs. UCLA.
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Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished with a season-high 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting, one of three Terps in double figures, while Julian Reese finished with 16 points and ten rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Maryland also forced 21 turnovers, the third time this season the defense has generated at least 20 turnovers, for the team's first ranked win of the season.
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A quick bucket from Miguel was followed up by a three from Ja’Kobi Gillespie off the pick-and-roll, giving Maryland a 5-0 start but the Bruins quieted the crowd with an 11-2 run over the ensuing three minutes for their first lead of the game.
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Queen sidestepped his man in the paint to draw and eventually complete the three-point opportunity before Gillespie’s layup on the fastbreak capped off the run, sending Xfinity into a roar. UCLA would answer back after Tyler Bilodeau converted on a second-chance jumper in the paint, but a Tafara Gapare triple would get the crowd back on its feet to push the Terps’ lead to 23-15, the largest lead so far on the night.
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But another UCLA run, this time a 7-0 run, would make it a one-possession game again as Maryland struggled with the Bruins on the boards after allowing nine second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds through the first half.
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Gillespie would shine through the first half, though, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting including 3-of-5 from three in a bounceback game. One of the three made threes by the transfer guard helped double the Terps’ lead after drilling a three before Tafara Gapare converted in transition to draw a three-point opportunity heading into the final media timeout of the half, pushing Maryland’s lead to 35-26 and its largest of the day. Gapare would then serve his latest highlight play after a beautiful rejection at the rim before his taunt drew a technical, but it wouldn’t slow down Maryland. Gillespie would convert another three-point play, this time thanks to contact on a jumper in the paint to stretch the lead to ten. UCLA ended the half on an 8-2 run thanks to a pair of triples over the final 2:01, but it was Maryland who clung onto its 40-36 lead at the break.
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Maryland avoided a second-half slow start that fans have seen flash in recent weeks, duplicating their first half success after opening on another 5-0 run thanks to Rodney Rice's first three of the night. But it’d be Julian Reese giving the offense life early, bullying his way in the paint to join Gillespie as Terps in double figures.
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After both teams went scoreless for over three minutes, Derik Queen would get Maryland back on the board after splitting a pair of free throws, but it'd be Selton Miguel who punched in the first field goal in nearly four minutes after knocking down a fastbreak layup, sending Xfinity back into a roar as Mick Cronin called a 30-second timeout as the Bruins were tasked with coming back from a 56-47 deficit with 8:36 remaining.
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Gapare’s presence on the defensive end continued into the second half after an emphatic block on Dylan Andrews in the paint, one minute before Julian Reese shut down Tyler Bilodeau on a turnaround jumper along the baseline with just under six minutes left.
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Then tensions erupted after Mick Cronin was called for a technical and subsequently ejected, sending Gillespie to the line where he drilled all four free-throw attempts. The converted scoring attempt was enough to jumpstart an 11-3 run, pushing Maryland’s lead to its largest of the night with each passing minute as the Terps held onto a double-digit lead the rest of the way, stretching the deficit to as many as 24 points in the closing minutes of the second half.
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Maryland will look to get back to .500 in conference play when they host Minnesota on Monday after moving to 12-4 (2-3) in Friday’s win.
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