Maryland routs Rutgers to open Big Ten tournament -

MINNEAPOLIS — Maryland arrived at the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament knowing full well anything short of winning five games in as many days would result in missing out on an NCAA tournament berth. Fueled by an overpowering first half, the 12th-seeded Terrapins took the first step with a 65-51 win over No. 13 seed Rutgers on Wednesday night.

The triumph in the opening round at Target Center featured scoring contributions from eight players, led by 16 points from Donta Scott. The Big Ten’s top-ranked scoring defense also clamped down on the Scarlet Knights, who shot 31.1 percent overall and were just 5 for 21 (23.8 percent) from three-point range.

The Terrapins (16-16) advanced to the second round Thursday and will face No. 5 seed Wisconsin. Maryland dropped the regular season matchup with the Badgers, 74-70, trimming a double-digit deficit to two points late in regulation before falling on the road Feb. 20.

The win ended a three-game slide that concluded the Terrapins’ rocky regular season.

“We just talked about defense,” Maryland Coach Kevin Willard said. “I wanted to get off to a fast start defensively, get some stops. We got two deflections, a fast-break layup, and we got an open three off a turnover. For me, when we’ve been good, it’s been on the defensive end.”

Julian Reese added 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks against Rutgers (15-17) three days after missing the regular season finale — a 16-point loss at Penn State — with a sore ankle. Point guard Jahmir Young, named first-team all-Big Ten, chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

The outcome became all but a formality early in the second half when Maryland went on an 11-2 run, stretching a 14-point halftime lead to 47-24 with 16:29 remaining. Reese had an emphatic two-handed dunk in that stretch.

Maryland’s ball movement also was as crisp as at any point this season. Seventeen of the Terrapins’ 22 made field goals were assisted, marking their most assists against a Big Ten opponent this season. Six players, including every starter, had at least one assist.

“Just continue to share the ball, find the open man,” Young said. “It started on defense, being able to limit them to one shot and get out in transition, where we were having success. We tried to limit them to one shot so we could get going.”

The lopsided result allowed Willard to rest the Terrapins’ core trio of Young, Reese and Scott in the closing stages for what Maryland is hoping to be an extended stay in Minneapolis, which is hosting the Big Ten tournament for the first time. With a little more than three minutes to go, Willard made wholesale substitutions, inserting Noah Batchelor, Mady Traore and seldom-used freshman Jahnathan Lamothe for the duration.

The only blemish to an otherwise celebratory occasion was Jahari Long, one of Maryland’s top reserves, collapsing onto the court with 50 seconds to play clutching his right leg. Willard walked across the floor to assess the situation while an athletic trainer examined Long’s knee. Several teammates then helped him to the bench, where he stayed for the rest of the game.

His status for Thursday remains unclear, according to Willard, who directed Maryland to a second straight win against the Scarlet Knights.

“Rutgers is a lot like us,” Willard said. “There’s times they’ve really struggled to shoot the ball. They run good stuff, but there’s times — you’ve really just got to pack it in on them at times, just try to make them make threes, and I thought the [three] times we’ve played them, our guys have done a really good job of understanding the scouting reports and personnel.”

Maryland started fast at both ends of the court and took a 36-22 lead into halftime. In an uncharacteristic change of circumstances, the Terrapins made their first three three-point attempts of the game during an 11-0 run and led by as much as 32-14 with 3:52 to play on Jamie Kaiser Jr.’s foul line jumper.

In the starting lineup for the fourth time this season and the first time in seven games, Kaiser (11 points, four steals) swished both of his three-pointers in the first half, providing a spark from long range that was sorely absent throughout the roster during the regular season. Maryland, which made 7 of 20 three-point shots (35 percent), came into the week ranked 343rd out of 351 schools in three-point shooting (28.4 percent).

“We opened up hitting shots early, just trying not to give them life,” said Young, Maryland’s scoring leader during the regular season (20.8). “Being able to bounce back like Coach said is huge. Guys stepping up, just defending, trying to run them off the three-point line, so we did a good job staying in front and staying in control all game.”

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