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Maryland Dominates UMES in Home Opener

By John Niswander

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 16: Anthony Cowan #0 of the Maryland Terrapins dribbles the ball in the first half against the Xavier Musketeers during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Amway Center on March 16, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 16: Anthony Cowan #0 of the Maryland Terrapins dribbles the ball in the first half against the Xavier Musketeers during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Amway Center on March 16, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Anthony Cowan finished one rebound shy of a double-double, and led the Terps to a dominating 96-43 win in the first game of the season under the confines of the Xfinity Center.

Cowan, led the team with 16 points and was one of five Terrapins to score in double-figures on the night. He finished shooting 5-7 from the field, and was a perfect 6-6 at the free-throw line. Surprisingly for a point guard, Cowan finished with zero assists and one rebound shy of a double-double with nine.

Jared Nickens was one of three Terrapins players off of the bench to score in double figures on the night. He finished a perfect 5-5 from the field, including 4-4 from deep for 15 points.

Dion Wiley played solidly off the bench again for Coach Mark Turgeon finishing with 13 points on 5-8 shooting. Wiley was also 3-6 from deep. Maryland fans have to be hopeful that Wiley can keep up his solid performances off the bench this season because he can be a key contributor to this team if his shot is falling.

Freshman Darryl Morsell had his best game of his young Maryland career so far finishing with 12 points off the bench. Morsell was aggressive and got to the free-throw line seven times and converted six of them. Morsell will be another key contributor off the bench presumably this season for the Terps. Solid games early on in the season for Morsell should hopefully translate to early confidence and success to come later on in important games.

Kevin Huerter was the only other Terrapin to score in double figures. He finished with 10 points on 4-5 shooting, including 2-3 from deep.

Maryland improved their 14% shooting from deep in the season opener up to 47% on 9-19 against UMES. However, only three guys actually made three-pointers (Nickens, Wiley, and Huerter).

Another item to note, Turgeon elected to start freshman Bruno Fernando at the power forward position over Ivan Bender.

In his first start as a Terrapin, Fernando logged 16 minutes of action. He finished with seven points on 2-4 shooting from the floor. He got to the free-throw line five times and converted three of those attempts.

Bender struggled off the bench. He recorded just two rebounds and was held scoreless on 0-2 shooting in 12 minutes of play.

Look for Turgeon’s rotation to tighten up as the season progresses. Nickens who saw minimal action in the season opener had a nice game off the bench and logged 18 minutes in this one. Also, graduate transfer Sean Obi only played eight minutes this game and did not see his first action until late in the second half. Obi was one of the 11 guys used in the first-half in the season opener.

Maryland has depth with arguably 11 guys who could play each night and contribute solid minutes. Watch for the Terps to use a variety of players and different smaller and bigger line-ups depending on the opponent throughout the season.

The Terrapins face their first true test of the season Wednesday, when they host Butler for a blackout game at 8:30.