Still recovering from an early-season swoon, Maryland looks to even its record when South Alabama visits College Park, Md., on Saturday night.
The Terrapins (2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 92-68 win against UMBC on Tuesday. Jahmir Young had 20 points and four assists and Julian Reese added 15 points and 13 rebounds.
The offensive output was a major positive as Maryland was coming off an ugly 57-40 loss at Villanova, a game in which it trailed by as many as 32 points.
“We talked about, we need to press more aggressively to create some easy buckets,” Terrapins coach Kevin Willard said. “When you get a couple easy buckets early, it gives you a little bit more confidence and you’re able to wear them down a little.”
Maryland scored 24 points off 23 turnovers and finished with 48 points in the paint. The only downside was the Terrapins’ continued struggles from beyond the arc as they made just 6 of 21 (28.6 percent). They’ve hit just 22.9 percent for the season from deep.
South Alabama of the Sun Belt Conference hopes this crack at a Big Ten school goes better than their last game with a major conference program, a 102-46 defeat on Nov. 14 at Alabama.
The Jaguars have a quality program, with no losing seasons under sixth-year coach Richie Riley.
The up-tempo squad has five players who score in double figures led by Isiah Gaiter (16.4 points per game) and Marcus Millender (10.9 points and 4.7 assists per game).
South Alabama is coming off a 74-62 win at home over Division II Lynn (Fla.) as Maxwell Land scored 17 points and Tyrell Jones came off the bench to add 16.
The Jaguars were hammered on the boards 41-27 as they showed the effects of playing their fifth game in a span of eight days.
“We all felt like we didn’t give our best effort and had a lack of urgency,” Gaiter said. “Honestly, it feels like we took a couple of steps back.”
–Field Level Media