Maryland needed extra time to close it out, but the Terps got their first Big Ten win of the season Wednesday night, defeating Penn State at home, 81-75, in overtime. The Terps were once again led by senior guard Jahmir Young, who scored a game-high 28 points, and junior big man Julian Reese, who poured in 24 points of his own.
The Terps have now won 16 straight home games dating back to last season. They will now return to non-conference play Tuesday, Dec. 12 when they host Alcorn State.
Below are three takeaways from the win.
Reese leads the way with career night
Julian Reese played his best game of the season Wednesday night versus Penn State, finishing with a career-high tying 24 points and 15 rebounds. It was his fourth double-double in five games and his fourth straight double-double inside Xfinity Center.
Reese, who has been prone to picking up cheap fouls, managed to stay out of foul trouble versus the Nittany Lions, playing a career-high 41 minutes and only picking up two fouls of his own along the way.
All night long Reese was the aggressor in the paint, drawing foul after foul on former teammate Qudus Wahab as well as 6-foot-10 big man Demetrius Lilley, both of whom fouled out of the game in regulation. He got to the free throw line 15 times, going 10-of-15 from the charity stripe. But he was dialed in during the second half, going 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the second half. He also relentlessly attacked the offensive glass throughout the game.
But it was Reese's leadership in a tight battle versus a Big Ten opponent in overtime that seemed to most please his head coach.
"I think Julian Reese is really developing into a leader," Willard said after the game. "He was the one, when we went into overtime, really talking, saying, 'Let's go, we got five more minutes, let's figure this out and find a way.'"
Kaiser continues to show improvement
Reese wasn't the only one with a career night versus Penn State, as freshman wing Jamie Kaiser Jr. scored in double figures for the first time as a Terrapin, finishing with a career-high 10 points. He was the only Terp other than Young and Reese to finish in double-figure scoring.
While Kaiser only shot 2-for-8 from the field, he managed to knock down a pair of triples and he got to the free throw line where he was a perfect 4-for-4.
But Kaiser impacted the game in so many ways other than scoring. He brought an energy and intensity on the defensive end that teammates seemed to feed off of. He finished with three rebounds and four steals before fouling out late in the second half.
The next step for Kaiser is to show that he can be a consistent scorer as the season goes on, as he has yet to score in back-to-back games this season.
Three-point shooting and turnovers continue to plague Terps
For all of the good Wednesday night, two issues continued to plague the Terps in the win: three-point shooting and turnovers.
The Terps entered their game with Penn State as one of only four Division I teams shooting below 23 percent from beyond the arc. They shot just 5-of-25 (20%) in their win over the Nittany Lions.
The good news? Kaiser is starting to look more comfortable and knocked down a pair of triples Wednesday night. The bad news? Donta Scott, Jordan Geronimo and DeShawn Harris-Smith went a combined 0-for-8 from deep.
The Terps came into Wednesday night averaging 12.6 turnovers per game but managed to top that number in the win versus PSU, finishing with 16 turnovers. Those 16 turnovers led to 16 points for the Nittany Lions.
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