Maryland opened the 2023-2024 season Tuesday night with a 68-53 win over in-state challenger Mount St. Mary's. Junior big man Julian Reese paced the Terps with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds, while senior point guard Jahmir Young stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
The Terps will return to action on Friday when they face Davidson in the opening round of the Asheville Championship Tournament.
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Here are three takeaways from the win.
Harris-Smith lives up to the preseason hype
It didn't take long for freshman guard DeShawn Harris-Smith to flex his muscles versus The Mount. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder quickly showed why he was one of the most highly ranked players in his class, finishing the opening half with 10 points, four rebounds, an assist, a block and two steals.
During the opening half he showed his ability as a strong perimeter defender, as well as his ability to really attack the basket off the dribble. He showed his physicality throughout, getting downhill and finishing at the rim with his left hand as time expired in the opening stanza. His plus-17 in the first half led all Terps despite finishing just third in minutes played with 14.
Harris-Smith's physicality and ability to finish through traffic should be a real asset for the Terps this season, especially once Big Ten play gets underway.
Terps struggle from three
One area where the Terps really struggled last season was shooting the three. Unfortunately, that looked to have carried over to this year's season opener.
The Terps shot just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc Tuesday night, with the starting backcourt of Young and Harris-Smith finishing a combined 0-for-5 from deep.
Donta Scott was able to knock one down from the top of the key in the second half, while Jahari Long hit a triple in the first half.
Newcomer Jamie Kaiser Jr. hit a corner three for the Terps' first triple of the season. A 6-foot-6 sniper from beyond the arc, the Terps will likely need Kaiser's three-point shooting throughout the season and it will be interesting to see if head coach Kevin Willard looks for ways to get him more open looks.
Reese struggles despite leading the way
If you just gave a quick glance at the box score, you'd probably think Julian Reese dominated the game. But a deeper dive shows that Reese has some areas he needs to work on ahead of the Terps' next game versus Davidson.
While Reese was an efficient 8-of-11 from the field, he turned the ball over four times and was just 2-for-7 from the charity stripe. Just a 53 percent free-throw shooter a season ago, it looks like his struggles from the charity stripe might not have been solved during the offseason.
Reese also struggled with foul trouble Tuesday night, finishing with four fouls. Again, this is nothing new for the junior big man, as he fouled out of three games last season and racked up four fouls in another 14 games. That foul trouble limits the number of minutes he can be on the court and can also affect his play on the defensive end of the floor. For the Terps to be at their best this season, they need him on the floor and able to play freely.
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