Maryland men’s basketball got a glimpse of life after Jahmir Young, and the results were encouraging.
With Young sitting out Thursday night’s game against visiting Coppin State because of the flu, his usual point guard duties were split between senior Jahari Long and freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith, and that duo combined for 23 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals in the Terps’ 75-53 victory over the Eagles before an announced 10,891 at Xfinity Center in College Park.
Long scored 15 points, eclipsing his previous career high of nine set against Michigan on Jan. 1, 2023, and amassed four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Harris-Smith chipped in eight points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
“I just trust my work,” Long said of filling in for Young. “That’s what my coaches were telling me. The main thing was just picking up Jahmir’s slack because he’s a hell of a player. So the main thing was to just make everybody stay in a rhythm.”
Long got his first start for Maryland and first since Nov. 28, 2021, in an 84-70 win against Bethune-Cookman when he played at Seton Hall after Young was ruled out before the game. Young, who scored a personal-best 37 points in Friday night’s 69-60 victory over UCLA, had started every game in his career (132 in a row) before Thursday night’s absence.
Junior power forward Julian Reese led the team with 18 points on 9 of 13 shooting, including 14 in the first half, and added 10 rebounds and three blocks for his sixth double-double of the season and 13th of his career. It was a welcomed performance from the Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate after he had only one point and four rebounds before fouling out against the Bruins.
Fifth-year senior small forward Donta Scott played in the 142nd game of his career, overtaking the Terps record of 141 games played shared by both Juan Dixon (1998 to 2002) and Jake Layman (2012 to 2016). Scott — who also rose to third on the career starts list with 127, trailing Steve Blake (136) and Anthony Cowan (130) — finished with 12 points and four assists.
Those players propelled Maryland (9-4) to its fifth consecutive win, eighth in its past nine games, and 19th straight at home — a run that began Dec. 22, 2022, courtesy of a 75-45 rout of Saint Peter’s. The streak is tied with Louisiana as the third-longest among Division I programs. The last time the team suffered a loss at Xfinity Center occurred Dec. 14, 2022, when UCLA cruised to an 87-60 thrashing.
Then again, it helped that the Terps faced an outmatched Coppin State squad that mustered only 18 points in the first half. That marked the Eagles’ third-lowest output in the first 20 minutes this season, trailing a 14-point outing in a 71-54 loss at Georgetown on Dec. 12 and a 17-point showing in a 76-45 setback at George Washington three days earlier.
Maryland capitalized on its size and athleticism on the inside. The team scored 40 of its 44 2-point baskets in the paint, leading to a 40-24 advantage in the lane, and coach Kevin Willard cited an emphasis on feeding the ball to Reese in the post.
“Julian’s one of the best big guys in the country,” he said. “So anytime we can get him the ball, good things happen because he’s an unselfish player and he’s not going to try to score every time. He really kind of took his time and felt the game out. Every time he got into it, something good happened.”
The Terps seized control of the game after a first minute in which Coppin State scored the first four points from graduate student power forward Toto Fagbenle. Maryland then embarked on a 28-5 run that included stretches of 12 and 11 unanswered points.
The Eagles went through droughts of 4:13, 2:07 and 7:50 during the Terps’ burst. Maryland scored seven more consecutive points before Coppin State ended the final 1:45 with a 7-3 spurt to trail, 38-18, at halftime.
The Eagles got 44 of their 53 total points from the trio of redshirt senior small forward Justin Winston (19 points and three rebounds), junior shooting guard Greg Spurlock (13 points and four rebounds), and Fagbenle (12 points, nine rebounds and two steals). But their efforts could not prevent Coppin State (1-13) from dropping its sixth game in a row.
No. 1 Purdue at Maryland
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Stream: Peacock
Radio: 105.7 FM
Coppin State at Delaware State
Saturday, Jan. 6, 4 p.m.
