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Takeaways: Maryland men’s basketball spreads the wealth in win over Alcorn State but a new concern emerges

edward lee, baltimore sun
·7 min read

Before Maryland men’s basketball’s game against Alcorn State on Tuesday night before an announced 10,006 at Xfinity Center in College Park, the school band serenaded Jahnathan Lamothe and Ben Murphy with an instrumental version of “Happy Birthday to You.” The real gift came a few hours later.

The Terps’ 105-65 thumping of the Braves included positive outings from the birthday boys. Lamothe, a 6-foot-4, 192-pound freshman shooting guard from Baltimore who graduated from St. Frances, set career highs in points (10), rebounds (three) and blocks (one).

Murphy, a 6-1, 193-pound junior shooting guard from Reisterstown who graduated from Franklin and transferred from Howard Community College, matched his personal best with two points but established career highs in minutes played (3:03) and steals (one).

Their play brought their teammates on the sideline to their feet, and one of them soaking it all in was freshman shooting guard DeShawn Harris-Smith.

“He’s my closest friend on the team,” he said of Lamothe. “So seeing that was amazing. I was more hyped when he was scoring than when I was scoring. I feel like everybody felt like that. And Ben got to score today, and it’s his birthday, too. So it was a great team win, great vibes.”

Here are more takeaways from Tuesday night’s victory.

Maryland needs more ball movement like it showed against Alcorn State

As much as rediscovering the 3-point efficiency they lacked in the first nine games proved crucial, the Terps (6-4) hope to have gained some insight into another recipe for improving their offense.

They made a season-high 20 assists on 30 field goals made. The last time they had been that charitable with the ball occurred Jan. 15, 2021, when that squad doled out 27 assists in a 100-58 romp over Wingate.

The passing was often crisp and quick. And instead of taking the first shot available, players dished the ball to teammates for higher percentage attempts.

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“Definitely one of the best games we shared the ball,” said fifth-year senior point guard Jahmir Young, who tied a season high with seven assists. “Just trying to get the best shot possible. We knew we could get anything we wanted. We don’t really have any selfish guys on the team. So everybody was just moving the ball side-to-side until one of us was free and one of us was open. We all can play, and we all can hoop, and we believe that any of us can make a shot. We feel like if we move the ball, the better off we will be.”

And that should be a priority for an offense that has frequently struggled this season to hit shots. When the accuracy isn’t there — especially from 3-point range — moving the ball from one side to the other, the perimeter to the post and vice versa will force opposing defenses to shift and recover, which could leave open gaps for Maryland to exploit.

And the passing helps keep everyone involved instead of relying on one or two players to carry the load.

“It’s definitely a fun brand of basketball,” said Harris-Smith, who tied his personal best with five assists. “It’s a huge reason why I came to Maryland — because they play fast. Everybody gets to touch the basketball, and today, I feel like, was the first time we really got in a groove and everybody was swinging the ball and getting a lot of one-on-ones.”

Maryland needs to continue to cultivate the rest of the roster outside of Jahmir Young and Julian Reese

Young and junior power forward Julian Reese entered Tuesday night’s game ranked first and second on the team in scoring, and that didn’t change against Alcorn State. Reese, the Randallstown native who graduated from St. Frances, scored a game-high 15 points, and Young was right behind him with 13.

But they weren’t the only players in double digits. Harris-Smith, senior small forward Jordan Geronimo and freshman small forward Jamie Kaiser Jr. finished with 12 each, and Lamothe chipped in his aforementioned 10.

The last time the Terps had six players in double figures in a game was Dec. 11, 2018, when Anthony Cowan Jr. (23 points), Jalen Smith (20), Eric Ayala (13), Bruno Fernando (11), Aaron Wiggins (11) and Serrel Smith Jr. (10) propelled that squad to a 94-71 rout over Loyola Maryland.

Four others scored at least six points on a night when Young and Reese were not as prolific as they have been this season.

“As a team, we’ve been talking about trying to take the load off of JY and Julian,” Harris-Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of good guys that can put the ball in the hoop. When we’re playing fast and everybody’s touching the ball, we’ve got enough guys that can score, and I feel like we did that today.”

Maryland’s bench outscored its opponents’, 46-24, and that output was the team’s season high. Young and Reese aren’t the types to complain about carrying the weight of the offense on their shoulders, but they must also be encouraged when they see their teammates converting their chances into points.

Coach Kevin Willard blamed himself for organizing a schedule that included three consecutive road games after the season opener against Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 7.

“If this was the second or third game of the season, this is what we would have been seeing all along from the young guys and guys coming off the bench,” he said. “Just to give them a chance to grow a little bit and get used to each other is huge. I think that’s what I was really excited about this homestand just for the fact that we’re getting done with finals, we can concentrate on basketball, we can get into a little bit of a rhythm. Every time we’ve been home for a long stretch, we’ve ended up playing really well. So those guys have been working hard. So it’s good to see them getting rewarded.”

Rebounding has surfaced as a silent concern

Alcorn State (1-9) opened the game by winning the tip and promptly grabbing two offensive rebounds before senior point guard Byron Joshua dropped in a layup.

That possession set the tone for another uneven effort from Maryland on the boards. Although it won the rebounding battle, 33-32, the Braves had more than the Terps in the first half.

Aside from 6-10, 235-pound junior center Alex Tsynkevich, who did not collect a rebound in 9:07, Alcorn State did not have a player on the floor who was taller than 6-8. Meanwhile, the 6-9, 230-pound Reese played 29:09 and corralled a game-high seven boards, and 6-11, 220-pound sophomore center Caelum Swanton-Rodger played 10:02 and had five.

Willard didn’t seem worried about the team’s showing on the glass.

“I just think sometimes you have to let your guys kind of get into the game a little bit,” he said. “They’re small. So I thought it took Ju a little time just to adjust to their size. They were only down eight with seven minutes to go at VCU. They were only down 12 with six minutes to go at TCU. This team is battle-tested. You’ve got to give them credit. They came out and played hard.”

Much like last season when Maryland ranked eighth in the Big Ten in rebounding margin, the Terps entered Tuesday night’s game ranked eighth in the conference in that same department. The Terps have outrebounded seven of their opponents so far and are 5-2 in those games.

As passing the ball can provide a struggling offense opportunities, so can grabbing missed shots. Young took a more pessimistic view of the team’s rebounding effort against the Braves.

“I would say we struggled on the glass,” he said. “Coming in, we wanted to dominate. The first possession, we probably gave up three or four [actually two]. So we started off on the wrong foot. But we were able to switch it around. They had more energy to start. Just for us to have a better start is something we need to focus on. We were only up by one. So that’s unacceptable. The next game, we’re definitely going to make that an emphasis.”

Nicholls State at Maryland

Tuesday, 8:30 p.m.

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: 105.7 FM