The first — and only — trip to the West Coast for Maryland men’s basketball got off to a humbling start.
The Terps failed to overcome one of their worst first-half showings of the season and didn’t put up much of a fight in the second half in a 75-69 loss to Washington on Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
For the second game in a row, the offense ran through senior power forward Julian Reese. After pumping in a game-high 23 points in Saturday’s 81-66 victory over UMES, the Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate scored 14 in the first half en route to leading the team with 20 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
Senior small forward Selton Miguel compiled 12 points and two rebounds, and sophomore shooting guard Rodney Rice added 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. But Maryland (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten) was held more than 18 points below its season average because its two leading scorers — freshman center Derik Queen and junior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie — combined to total only five points.
With the setback, the Terps lost for the first time in four games and dropped their second straight against league competition after absorbing an 83-78 setback at then-No. 8 Purdue on Dec. 8.
Senior power forward Great Osobor sparked the Huskies with 20 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, and freshman shooting guard Vazoumana Diallo came off the bench to pump in a career-high 18 points of his own and collect six assists and five rebounds. And senior reserve point guard DJ Davis scored 17 points to help Washington (10-4, 1-2) bounce back from conference losses to UCLA (69-58 on Dec. 3) and USC (85-61 on Dec. 7) and pick up their fourth victory in their past five games.
Here are three observations from Thursday night’s game.
Julian Reese was one of the few bright spots for Maryland, especially in the first half
The first 20 minutes were some of the worst for the Terps. They managed to score just 33 points in the opening frame, which was their third-lowest total of the season behind a 28-point display in a 76-75 victory over Villanova on Nov. 24 and a 31-point showing in a 79-49 rout of Manhattan on Nov. 4.
The surprising performance included two fouls in the first seven minutes for Queen that saddled him with more turnovers (two) than points (zero) and rebounds (zero) and lethargic performances by Gillespie (zero points and two turnovers) and Miguel (three points on 1 of 6 shooting).
Reese was the offense’s most consistent source for scoring. He converted six of seven shots from the floor and two free throws.
Reese’s contributions were enough to keep Maryland ahead of Washington, 33-30, at halftime, but the Huskies outscored the Terps, 42-33, in the second half. Washington shot 45.6% (26 of 57) from the field, which marked the third-highest success rate against a Maryland defense that ranked second in the Big Ten in fewest points per game at 61.1.
Maryland coach Kevin Willard said the players need to learn from games such as Thursday night’s.
“We have to grow,” he said. “We have to be in these situations more. You have to be able to struggle offensively, and we let that affect us defensively, and I thought our struggles on offense really kind of hurt us defensively.”
Maryland suffered without its usual contributions from Queen and Gillespie
There hasn’t been much to be disappointed about when it comes to Queen and Gillespie. They entered Thursday’s game ranked 1-2 in scoring, respectively, Gillespie led the team in 3-point field goals, assists and steals, and Queen ranked second in rebounds, steals and blocks.
But against Washington, both players had rather forgettable performances. Queen, the five-star prospect from Baltimore, connected on only one of his seven shots for four points and had more turnovers (two) than blocks (one), rebounds (one) and steals (one). He was also hampered by fouls with two in the first seven minutes of the game, a third with 17:43 left in the second half, and a fourth with 9:48 to go.
Gillespie missed all six of his shots from the court — including both attempts from 3-point range — and finished with more turnovers (three) than steals (zero), points (one), assists (two).
Willard didn’t make much of an excuse for Gillespie’s performance.
“He had a bad game,” he said. “Guys have bad games every once in a while.”
The Terps usually can turn to their bench to support their starting five. But while they got 10 points from fifth-year senior forward Jordan Geronimo, eight from sophomore guard DeShawn Harris-Smith — including only his third 3-pointer in 15 attempts this season — and two from graduate student point guard Jayhlon Young, that group was badly outpaced by the Huskies’ reserves, who dominated points from the bench, 44-20.
Maryland’s bread-and-butter lacked the requisite spread
Entering the game, the Terps were tied for third in the Big Ten in rebounding at 39.8 per game, while Washington was 11th at 35.7. For much of the game, however, it seemed the numbers were reversed.
The Huskies outhustled Maryland on the boards, earning a 33-29 advantage. Osobor’s game-best 14 rebounds were especially significant, and Washington’s 11 offensive rebounds led to 15 second-chance points.
Willard said an offensive rebound by sophomore shooting guard Tyler Harris that set up senior power forward Wilhelm Breidenbach to hit a 3-pointer that gave Washington an early 3-0 lead set the tone.
“The way we started the game, we had a good defensive possession, and then we gave up an offensive rebound for a 3,” he said. “I thought our physicality was just not there. You got to come on the road, and you got to play physical. We didn’t play physical. I give Washington a lot of credit. They were more physical than us, and they deserved to win.”
As mentioned above, the Terps stumbled without any support from Queen, who averaged 8.8 rebounds before Thursday, and Gillespie, who averaged 2.3. Queen’s one rebound was the lowest of his fledgling career, while Gillespie had his third game of the season without a rebound.
Maryland’s inability to control the glass should serve as a shot across the bow. The next game on Sunday at 4 p.m. pits the team against No. 9 Oregon (12-1, 1-1), which ranks fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding at 38.5. Any hope of an upset might rest heavily on the team’s ability to win that particular battle against the Ducks.
Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.
UP NEXT
Maryland at No. 9 Oregon
Sunday, 4 p.m.
Stream: Peacock
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