Maryland men’s basketball soars past Saint Francis (PA), 111-57

The Terps picked up another low-major win.

Maryland men’s basketball was uncharacteristically sluggish early against Saint Francis (PA) Tuesday night, trailing by four with 10:32 left in the first half. Then its starting trio of guards caught fire.

Selton Miguel, Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice went a combined 10-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half’s final 10 minutes — the rest of the team took just four shots in that stretch. The Terps ran to a 26-point halftime lead and a 111-57 win over the Red Flash at Xfinity Center.

Miguel also converted three of Maryland’s first four buckets of the second half, finishing with a team-high 24 points in 24 minutes on 10-of-13 shooting. Rice finished with 16.

“[Selton] has stayed extremely positive,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “His work ethic has been great, you’re just seeing the result now. He’s been getting more comfortable with things.”

The Terps were on fire from beyond the arc all night. They shot 57.7% (15-of-26) from 3-point range, their highest single-game mark since February 2023. Fifteen made 3-pointers were the second most in a game in program history.

Gillespie, Miguel and Rice all recorded at least three 3-pointers, while Jay Young was a perfect 3-of-3 from deep.

But it didn’t look like victory would be that easy at first. Saint Francis was cool and collected out the gate. Despite playing on the road against a high-major opponent with a significant size advantage, it showed plenty of early poise on both ends of the court.

“We were a little gassed … we hadn’t played a game in nine days,” Willard said. “The guys picked it up. They saw what was going on, I was trying to pick up our defensive intensity … it’s just about being patient, letting guys just get back into the flow of the game.

Excellent ball movement from the Red Flash on their first possession, capped off with a wide-open 3-pointer, put Maryland on alert. That kicked off a 4-of-5 shooting stretch that kept Saint Francis in the lead for nearly the entire opening four minutes.

Saint Francis went dry following that stretch, missing five straight shots, but Maryland could not capitalize. It went up by one before Deshawn Harris-Smith turned the ball over and Julian Reese missed two free throws, allowing the Red Flash to hang around.

They continued to be in sync and efficient on offense, going on another 4-of-5 shooting streak — including two 3-pointers from Jeremy Clayville — to go up by four points with 10:32 left in the half.

Then, Maryland imposed its will, finally playing like the physically superior team it was. The Terps outrebounded the Red Flash, 16-4, forced three turnovers and outscored them, 36-8, in the first half’s final 10 minutes.

Its guard trio took over on the offensive end. Miguel finished the half with 17 points, while Rice added 10 and Gillespie eight. The Terps led 55-29 at halftime.

“We’ve got a lot of depth,” Rice said. “Everyone can play, everyone can contribute, and we have built chemistry along the way. It’s still early in the season, we got a long way to go, but we’ve had a good start.”

Derik Queen came alive in the second half, recording 10 points in the period. The team around him continued its 3-point prowess, shooting 7-of-11 from deep in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Saint Francis stayed poised despite the deficit, shooting efficiently early in the second half. But the game was well out of hand by that point.

Three things to know

1. Slow start for Queen. The freshman finished with 15 points, but the comfortable majority of those came with the game out of hand. He had just five points and three rebounds in the first half, but with the Terps’ guard trio taking over the game, it didn’t matter much.

2. Jordan Geronimo is back on the floor. The fifth-year forward missed five games with an injury and played just one minute against No. 16 Purdue with Reese in foul trouble and Queen injured. He recorded seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes Tuesday, including a thunderous poster dunk late in the second half.

3. Looking ahead. Maryland has just one more low-major opponent — Maryland Eastern Shore — on its regular season schedule. While the Terps put together another nonconference domination against Saint Francis, its future opportunities to do so are nearly numbered. They play Syracuse on Saturday and Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 28 before the bulk of the Big Ten slate begins.