When Maryland hosts Alcorn State on Tuesday night in College Park, Md., the goal for the Terrapins is to leave the locker room more prepared to play — in both halves.
That was the element lacking for Maryland (1-1) on Friday night when it fell to Georgetown 70-60. In the opening minutes, the Terrapins surrendered the game’s first 11 points. Then at the start of the second half, the Hoyas outscored them 18-3.
“I just didn’t think that from start to finish, we competed with the edge that you have to have,” said Maryland coach Buzz Williams. “You can’t play 32 minutes. Removing the first four minutes, if you could from each half, it was a different game.”
Williams, who is in his first year with the Terrapins, is blending an entire new group of scholarship players, including five freshmen and 10 transfers. He said he is still trying to find his team’s “yin and yang.”
“We’ve gotta figure out maybe how we warm up, maybe what I say or don’t say, because what I said pregame didn’t work and what I said at halftime didn’t work,” Williams added.
Texas A&M transfer Pharrel Payne is averaging 19 points and 8.5 rebounds through Maryland’s first two games. Coming off an injury, Indiana transfer Myles Rice scored 19 points in his Terrapins debut Friday.
Alcorn State (0-3) had a busy opening week, playing three road games in a span of five days, topped off by an 11 a.m. start Saturday at Minnesota.
The effects of the grueling schedule were evident in a 95-50 loss to the Golden Gophers as the Braves surrendered the game’s first 17 points and never seriously challenged.
William Henderson and Davian Williams scored nine points each to lead Alcorn State, a Mississippi school which plays in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Niagara transfer Shane Lancaster (15 points per game) is the top scorer for the Braves, who are averaging 18.3 turnovers per game.
“We just have to find a way to take care of the ball better,” said Alcorn State’s first-year coach Jake Morton, who was an assistant last year at Florida State.
– Field Level Media
