Late 21-0 run propels Maryland past Mount St. Mary's
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland (3-0) remained unbeaten this season with a 79-61 win over Mount St. Mary’s (1-2) in College Park Nov. 29, thanks in part to a career-high 17 points from sophomore forward Donta Scott.
The Mount hung around for much of the game, even leading by two midway through the second half. But the Terps used a 21-0 run over 7 minutes and 15 seconds of game time to pull away after trailing 58-56.
“I want to give Mount tremendous credit. They were terrific,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said. “I actually welcome a game like that where we were actually behind in the second half and have to gut it out, which was great to see our guys did it...So it’s good experience for us and it’s going to help us down the road.”
The 21-0 run by the Terps occurred with a lineup of Scott, Jairus Hamilton, Darryl Morsell, Aaron Wiggins, and Eric Ayala on the floor. It’s a lineup Turgeon said the Terps haven’t practiced much, but one that will have to get more run moving forward.
“We got our energy going and then we made shots, executed well. And it’s not a lineup we practice a lot, but it’s probably going to be a lineup we play more as the season goes on,” Turgeon said.
Maryland used a balanced scoring attack to upend the Mountaineers. Led by Scott’s 17, five Terps finished in double figures, including junior guard Eric Ayala, who netted 15 of his own and said it was nice to see his sophomore teammate play a complete game.
“[Scott] just kind of got whatever he wanted on the floor,” Ayala said of Scott, who also had a team-high five rebounds. “And his effort the whole game, not just on the offense end, but defensively. He’s always in the right spot. I thought he played a full game. And, obviously, his offensive game was showcased tonight.”
Ayala was also impressed by Hamilton, who scored 13 points on Sunday — the most the transfer forward has had in a Maryland uniform. Hamilton did most of his damage from beyond the arc, shooting 3-for-4 from deep, and the junior also added a team-high five rebounds to hit totals.
“[Hamilton] is versatile,” Ayala said. “Similar to Donta, if they have a bigger guy on them they’re fast enough to kind of get by them. And smaller guys they can post up. And he shot the ball well today from three. And that’s only a small part of this game. He can do so much. He can drive, defensively he can switch out on guards and guard wings and bigs. He’s been phenomenal since he has been here and I’m very happy to have him here.”
Continuing its blistering start on offense to begin the season, Maryland shot 60% as a team on Sunday afternoon. It’s the Terps’ second consecutive game shooting at least 60%. Joining Ayala, Scott, and Hamilton, junior wing Aaron Wiggins and senior guard Darryl Morsell finished in double digits with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Maryland has received scoring from many different players this season, and Turgeon said after his team’s 18-point victory that the balanced scoring distribution is by design, and it’s the team’s depth that allows it to happen.
“It’s the way we coach them,” Turgeon said. “And if a guy gets hot, we try to give it to him a little bit more. That’s the way that the system is set up and we have a lot of good players...I think we wear teams down a little bit...I like our depth and it’s able to help us wear teams down.”
Maryland’s defense was also stout on Sunday, holding Mount St. Mary’s to just 43% shooting overall and 33% in the second half. The Terps also dominated the paint with a rebound margin of plus-nine and outscoring the Mountaineers in the post 38-26.
Although, Mount St. Mary’s did have a trio of double-digit scorers of its own. Senior guard Jalen Gibbs had a game-high 19 points, while junior forwards Malik Jefferson and Nana Opoku had 18 and 10, respectively.
Maryland will remain at home for its next outing in which it will host Towson on Dec. 1 — a game that was originally supposed to be played against Monmouth, which recently paused basketball activities because of COVID-19.