Maryland figures things out in 2nd half, dumps South Alabama

Field Level Media|published: Sat 25th November, 21:23 2023

Nov 17, 2023; Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard calls out against the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at William B. Finneran Pavilion. credits: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Julian Reese collected 19 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks, helping propel Maryland to a 68-55 win over South Alabama on Saturday night in College Park, Md.

Donta Scott contributed 19 points and seven rebounds and Jahmir Young added 16 points as Maryland (3-3) dominated inside to win its second straight.

Jordan Geronimo contributed 14 points and six rebounds for the Terrapins, who trailed for much of the first half before pulling away after intermission.

In notching his third double-double this season, Reese made 7 of 8 shots from the floor.

Maryland out-rebounded South Alabama 42-26 and had a big edges on second-chance points (16-5) and points in the paint (36-20).

Julian Margrave scored 18 points and Isiah Gaiter added 17 to pace South Alabama (4-4) of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Jaguars made 50 percent of their shots in the first half, including 4 of 7 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc. But they faded badly after the break, hitting just 32.3 percent from the floor, including 1 of 10 from deep.

Meanwhile, Maryland continued its struggles from 3-point range, hitting just 5 of 31 attempts (16.1 percent). Their success rate from long range fell to 21.4 percent for the season.

The Terrapins were much more reliable inside the arc, where they made 19 of 26 shots (73.1 percent).

After Reese, Scott, Young and Geronimo, the rest of the Terrapins missed all 12 of their shots from the floor.

After leading at the break 29-26, Maryland took control by out-scoring South Alabama 23-4 in the first 6:12 of the second half.

Reese led the onslaught, scoring 10 points during the spree. Geronimo added six points and Scott drained a trey during the run, which gave the Terrapins their biggest lead of the night, 52-30.

In the first half, Maryland struggled with the active zone defense of South Alabama, which held the Terrapins to seven points in the first eight minutes.

Over the first 12 minutes, the Jaguars got 3-pointers from four players and led by as many as five points.

The Terrapins got their first lead as Scott scored half of the points in an 8-0 run, which put them up 23-18.

—Field Level Media