Newcomers to College Park led the way for Maryland in a 89-40 exhibition win against Fayetteville State on Friday night.
Freshman Julian Reese led Maryland with 16 points off the bench. The Baltimore native scored 10 of those in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting and finished six-of-10 from the floor with five rebounds.
A strong interior defense led by Maryland’s Qudus Wahab underneath helped hold Fayetteville State to 1-of-7 shooting in the first five minutes and was a problem throughout. Wahab pulled down six rebounds and finished with 12 points.
“I thought our first-team defense was terrific,” said Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. “We kept them out of the paint and guarded the ball well.”
The Broncos got close as Turgeon rotated out his starting five for the first time. Senior guard Jalen Seegers would score 10 of Fayetteville State’s next 13 points to pull it within one, 16-15.
That’s as close as FSU would get, as Maryland’s starters reentered with just under nine minutes to go in the first half. Graduate transfer guard Fatts Russell scored back-to-back buckets — a falling down 3-pointer on the elbow as the shot clock expired, then a fast-break layup that drew a foul. The former Rhode Island Ram would miss the free shot, but the possessions put Maryland up 21-15 and sparked a 27-8 Terrapin run to close out the first half.
Fayetteville State had clean mid-range and perimeter looks at times but struggled to find the basket, shooting only 24% (14-of-59) for the game. Maryland was good on 55% of its attempts (32-of-58), including a 39% mark from three, and a strong Terrapin defensive effort held the Broncos to only 17 second-half points.
“Coach Turgeon..we drill it everyday,” Russell said. “We try to make no mistakes on the defensive end. That’s just a testament to how hard we work on defense.”
The game was Maryland’s lone exhibition of the season. The No. 21 Terrapins open the regular season Tuesday at home against Quinnipiac.
