Maryland opened the Kevin Willard era with a 71-49 win over Niagara Monday night, as the Terps were led by senior forward Donta Scott and his game-high 18 points.
Here are three takeaways from the Terps' season-opening win.
Donta Scott is back to looking like his sophomore self
Senior forward Donta Scott wasted little time in showing Maryland fans that his shooting stroke is back. After shooting just 29.1 percent from beyond the arc a season ago, Scott went off from three versus the Purple Eagles in the Terps' season opener, going 4-of-5 from deep. His four made threes were the second-most in a single game in his career, just behind the five made threes he had last season in a 25-point outburst at Ohio State.
Scott also showed off his new, slimmer physique, hauling in 6 rebounds, blocking two shots and coming away with a steal. He was also active in other ways, tipping out a ball on the offensive glass for an extra possession and showing off his newfound speed by sprinting the length of the floor for a breakaway dunk.
Without much depth, Maryland will likely need to rely on Scott to play major minutes this season and carry a bulk of the scoring load. His ability to make shots from deep could really make a difference as the Terps hope to finish on the right side of the bubble.
This team looks like it is actually going to play fast
Maryland fans heard it for years under Mark Turgeon. Every preseason the talk was about how the Terps were going to play fast and get up and down the court. And every year, Maryland played at one of the slowest tempos in all of college hoops. You have to go all the way back to the days of ACC play to find a Maryland team that didn't play at a snails pace.
The Terps wasted little time versus Niagara pushing the pace and showing full court pressure off of makes early in the game. Maryland finished the game with 9 steals (5 by Ian Martinez) and 17 fast-break points. They also averaged an impressive 1.315 points per possession.
This Maryland team might not be the deepest or the most talented in the league, but they should be fun to watch and continue to improve as the season goes on.
It was a struggle for the Terps in the paint
It's no secret that coming into the season, the Terps' most glaring weakness was in the paint, where they have no proven talent behind sophomore big Julian Reese.
The Terps struggled in the rebounding department in the first half, with Niagara beating Maryland on the glass, 17-13 over the first 20 minutes. The Purple Eagles also dominated the scoring in the paint, as Niagara finished with 34 points in the paint to Maryland's 26.
One other issue from a season ago that reared it's ugly head in the opener was Julian Reese's propensity for getting into foul trouble. Reese played just 10 scoreless minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. St. Francis (N.Y.) transfer Patrick Emilien picked up the slack for Reese in the first half, but there is a significant drop off with Emilien in the game.
The Terps are going to need Reese to stay out of foul trouble and produce across the board until they can find a suitable backup who can give them a solid 10 to 15 minutes a night on a consistent basis.
