College Park, MD – Maryland came into this game having won four of their last five games. Last week they got their first conference win against Penn State. Alcorn State had lost seven games straight, all on the road. Maryland had the lead early, led by Jahmir Young, Julian Reese and Jordan Geronimo. The score at the end of the half was 47-33. Maryland shot 52% from the floor and 47% from 3. Both teams sent each other to the line quite a bit but the Terps converted 31-of-40 for better than 77%. In the second half, Maryland put their foot on the pedal getting a lot of scoring from their bench and role players as well. Reese, who became more aggressive in the second half, lived at the stripe making 9-of-12, and he finished the day with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Young finished his day with 13 points and seven assists. The Terps had 6 players in double figures as they stomped Alcorn State, 105-65.
Junior big man Julian Reese started off this game slow in the first half. Alcorn State threw a lot of bodies at him early on and made things difficult for him in the paint. He hardly shoots jumpers, but he attempted one in this game, and it was ill-advised due to how uncomfortable the defense made him, but he increased his effort as the game went on. He went 3-of-7 from the field but that doesn’t really paint the picture of his impact. He is a space clearer with his back to the basket, he started to establish his position and got to the rim. He has a nice bag of post moves, especially hooks and step backs. Reese is a big kid who got stronger since last year. He looks more focused and has a better understanding of what player he is which is a rebounding, paint dominant player. He went 9-of-12 from the line and defended the post well stifling the opponent with a great block. He has five double doubles this year so far, ranking him 9th nationally. Once he learns how to continue to be aggressive, he will score more. Reese averages 15.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.
Jahmir Young can put the ball on the floor and has a good dribble jumper. He is more of a straight-line driver, but he seems patient in taking his shots. He excels in the pick and roll game and has an EFG of 45%. Young can shoot 3-pointers but he’s only shooting them at 30%, he needs to get better in that regard. He is the leading scorer on the team and Maryland doesn’t shoot the ball well consistently, so they need him to step that up. He is average defensively but has some success against other guards when they reach the paint. He bought into the team defensive concept in this game as the team held Alcorn State to only 65 points. Young is the second leading scorer in the NCAA currently and the only active player with 2,000 points, 600+ rebounds and 400+ assists.
With this win, Maryland is now 6-0 at home and looking to keep the streak going against Nicholls State. Alcorn State has now lost 8 straight road games on the season.
This article was written by Kenneth Moore, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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