Maryland men's basketball wins first round of Big Ten Tournament vs. Oregon after dominant first half

Chase King
1 minute ago
3 min read

Maryland Men’s Basketball steams past Oregon after allowing only their fewest first-half points since 2003.

Maryland (12-20, 5-16) entered the first half with a 33-12 lead over the Oregon Ducks (12-19, 5-15) and coasted to a 70-60 win to start the Big Ten Tournament.

The Terps are now playing on their final life. They have four seniors who will likely be finishing their collegiate careers with their next loss, that being guard Diggy Coit and forwards Solomon Washington, Elijah Saunders and Collin Metcalf.

“Just take it one at a time. I feel like we're as connected as we’ve been all year. Just keep playing for eachother,” said Saunders.

The two teams faced off earlier in the series, only three games after Maryland lost star forward Pharrel Payne for the season. The Ducks took the game in College Park 64-54, with Maryland shooting only 28% from the field and 20% from three.

All four of the Terps seniors started the game alongside redshirt freshman guard Andre Mills, and they would start hard. Maryland started the game on a 9-0 run and dominated the start of the game.

The Terps wouldn’t allow a field goal in the first 11 minutes of the game, where they lead 17-8. Their defense wouldn’t slow down after their first field goal, however, allowing only four points in the last 8:46 of the first half.

Oregon finished the first half shooting only 3-of-22 from the field and 0-for-10 from three. Six of their points came from the free throw line as they were 6-of-8 from the stripe.

Maryland’s defense was smothering in the first half, forcing tough shots that the Ducks were not making. Saunders and Washington both finished with a block, and Metcalf did a good job altering shots at the rim. Oregon finished the half 2-for-7 on layups and added a tip-in from center Nate Bittle.

Maryland’s offense wouldn’t have a super productive first half, shooting only 38.7% from the field and 29.4% from three, but they would still take a 21-point lead to the half.

The second half would be a game of runs, but the Terps would never lose their grasp on the game, never leading by less than nine points.

“I thought we played from start to finish in the first half, probably as well as any half that we’ve played,” said Head Coach Buzz Williams, “From a low turnover rate, from an offensive rebound percentage, even a defensive rebound percentage, and we didn’t foul, which was really good.”

Oregon played with a much higher tempo in the second half, and the Terps would initially struggle with it. They turned the ball over four times in the first seven minutes of the half, which allowed Oregon to cut the lead to 12 points.

Maryland would figure out the press and take back control and had their largest lead of 24 points after a 15-3 run that ended with eight minutes left in the second half.

Saunders played a big part in the run, making two straight three-pointers. He tied his career high in made three-pointers with five against Oregon. He finished the game 5-for-6 from the field, with all of his shots coming from behind the arc.

The Terps would take their foot off the gas and allow Oregon to go on yet another big run. The Ducks had the game within nine points with just two minutes to go after a 20-5 run.

After a couple of defensive stops, which caused the Ducks to start fouling, the Terps would walk away comfortably with a ten-point win.

Coit led the Terps with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field and three assists. Mills scored in double digits for his seventh time in a row, finishing with 12 points, three offensive rebounds and five assists.

Maryland out-rebounded the Ducks 38-to-28 and had 13 offensive rebounds to their seven.

“I feel like we were able to defend the rebound at a higher level than we have been earlier in the season,” said Saunders. “When it comes down to march, whoever can defend the rebound and not turn the ball over is going to win.”

The Terps now move forward to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. They are set to play the Iowa Hawkeyes for the third time this season at 12 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 11th. The Terps and the Hawkeyes have split their two previous appearances, with both teams winning at home.

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