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Maryland cruises to blowout NCAA Tournament win over Grand Canyon
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Maryland entered the NCAA Tournament with renewed expectations, grabbing a 4-seed after a 2nd-place finish in the Big Ten. It’s the best seeding for the Terrapins since a 5-seed in 2016, and Maryland looked the part on Friday.
In spite of allowing GCU to run out to a quick 7-2 lead, Maryland answered back and ran its lead to 20 points before halftime even rolled around. It led to a 42-28 halftime lead for the Terrapins, and that was just the start.
The 2nd half began with a 17-8 push by Maryland with the Terrapins combining lockdown defense and rebounding to a near-flawless offensive performance. In fact, the only area that Maryland struggled came at the free-throw line.
Maryland secured the glass with a 44-to-33 advantage on the boards and dominated the points off turnovers. The Terrapins racked up 22 points off of 13 takeaways while the Lopes managed just 3 points off of 8 takeaways.
Offensively, it was a clinic from Kevin Willard’s squad while shooting 50.8% from the floor and 43.8% from 3-point range. The only drawback came with Maryland converting just 12 of its 24 free-throw attempts.
Julian Reese led 5 Maryland players to reach double figures with 18 points and added 9 rebounds while running mate Derik Queen compiled a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 16 points in the eventual 81-49 win.
Maryland received a surprisingly good draw in the full NCAA Tournament bracket, and that only improved — on paper — when 12-seed Colorado State upset 5-seed Memphis. That means Maryland’s path to a Sweet 16 appearance will run through back-to-back games vs. double-digit seeds.
ESPN Bet has Maryland as a 7.5-point favorite vs. the Rams with an over/under set at 142.5. Fans can take advantage of those numbers and get into the action with the Maryland betting sites.
The Terps have not been back to the Sweet 16 since 2016, but the opportunity is golden entering Sunday. We’ll see how Maryland comes out when things tip off with a chance to reach the 2nd weekend.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.