Maryland aims to sharpen skills vs. winless Alcorn State

Field Level Media|published: Sat 30th November, 12:17 2024

Nov 19, 2024; College Park, Maryland, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie (0) handles the ball against the Canisius Golden Griffins during the second half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Maryland will dip its toe in Big Ten play next week, but first comes one final nonconference tune-up against Alcorn State on Sunday afternoon in College Park, Md.

The Terrapins (6-1) open their conference slate at home against Ohio State on Wednesday before traveling to face No. 13 Purdue on Dec. 8. They will play three more nonconference games after that before jumping back into league action for good on Jan. 2.

Maryland already has proven it can compete with top programs, battling then-No. 15 Marquette in a four-point loss and sliding past Villanova for a one-point win.

But all signs point to Sunday's game against the Braves (0-8) turning into another pick-up game for a Terrapins team that has flattened the less formidable squads on its schedule.

Aside from the Villanova game, each of Maryland's five other wins have come by at least 24 points. The Terrapins won their third straight on Wednesday, with reserve Tafara Gapare scoring 19 points to power the team to a 91-67 home victory over Bucknell.

Maryland has done plenty this season to impress coach Kevin Willard, but its ability to turn defense into offense has stood out.

"One of the things we are doing a better job this year is forcing a lot of turnovers and capitalizing on those turnovers," Willard said. "It allows us to continue to press on multiple possessions. Last year, we pressed one out of every five possessions. We're pressing four possessions in a row and that is going to wear opposing teams down."

Alcorn State will aim to break through against the Terrapins' pesky defense after nearly notching its first win of the season on Friday. The Braves led South Alabama by five points with less than two minutes remaining in regulation before the Jaguars rallied for a 74-65 overtime victory.

Despite the winless start, Alcorn State coach Landon Bussie has seen improvement from his team since losing its first two games by 41 and 55 points, respectively.

"I was never concerned about us getting better," Bussie said in a postgame radio interview. "I'm not going to take my foot off the gas on these guys."

Guard Keionte Cornelius paces the Braves with 9.9 points per game, while center Derik Queen averages a team-high 16.0 points for Maryland.

--Field Level Media

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