Maryland men’s basketball had a difficult time getting off the starting line in its season opener against Bucknell, ceding the lead on two occasions. But after launching a 21-5 run to close out the first half, the Terps never took their feet off the gas.
Maryland overcame a sloppy start and took control in the second half of Monday night’s contest to cruise to a 96-67 victory over the Bison. Returning guard Andre Mills led the way with 22 points as the leader of five different Terps who scored in the double digits.
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The win didn’t come without its issues, however, as Maryland struggled to shoot accurately from the 3-point and free-throw lines.
Here are three takeaways from the first win of the Terps’ 2026-27 campaign.
Bench talent was on full display
Talk of Maryland’s improved depth heading into this season was one of the biggest reasons why many critics predicted the team would take one of the largest jumps in the nation. The bench proved those predictions right against Bucknell, combining for 35 crucial points.
The biggest contributor off the bench was undoubtedly freshman guard Kaden House, who contributed 14 points in 18 minutes on 4-of-9 shooting. His breakout performance was highlighted by a monstrous drive and slam eight minutes into the second half that sent the crowd into pandemonium.
Robert Jennings III and Baba Oladotun also scored seven points, albeit with varying levels of efficiency. Jennings made both of his field goal attempts — including a surprising 3-point swish from the wing — while Oladotun struggled to get going in his 16 minutes of playing time, going 25% from the charity stripe and failing to score until 27 minutes into the game.
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“Any 17-year-old that’s supposed to be in high school, no matter who the opponent is, who’s playing in his hometown state in game number one, he is going to be sped up,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “We had some 23-year-olds that were sped up.”
The game gave fans a glimpse of 12 of the 15 available…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/takeaways-maryland-men-basketball-season-115000949.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-03 11:50:00
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