No. 20 Maryland opened both halves of its matchup against Southern California on big runs, and the Terrapins cruised to an 88-71 win on Thursday in College Park, Md.
The Terrapins (21-6, 11-5 Big Ten) never trailed en route to their fourth straight win and eighth in the past nine games, pouncing on USC with an 11-point onslaught in the game’s first 2:14.
Maryland’s early lead reached as many as 13 points before USC chipped the deficit down to three late in the first half. However, after Kevin Patton Jr. scored on a layup that brought the Trojans within 30-27, the Terrapins responded by scoring the final seven points of the half.
Maryland’s run extended into the second half, as the Terrapins erupted for a 15-5 surge after intermission. Altogether, the 22-5 burst pushed the host’s lead to 20 points in just about six minutes of game time.
Rodney Rice paced Maryland’s balanced scoring effort with 22 points. Julian Reese added 19 points with 10 rebounds, and Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished with 20 points.
USC (14-12, 6-9) rallied again to cut the deficit to six points on Wesley Yates III’s 3-pointer with 9:37 remaining, but the Trojans could get no closer. Derik Queen answered Yates’ triple with a dunk, part of the Maryland big man’s 13-point, 17-rebound effort.
Queen then snared the board on Desmond Claude’s miss on the other end, setting up a Selton Miguel basket on the other end to push the Terrapins’ edge back to 10 points. Maryland maintained a cushion of eight points or more the rest of the way.
Queen’s work on the glass helped Maryland to a 41-26 rebounding advantage. Miguel scored 11 points, giving all five Maryland starters double-figures scoring.
Yates led with 21 points in the loss, the Trojans’ fourth in their past five games. Saint Thomas added 10 points, five assists and three steals, while Patton scored 11 points off the bench.
Chibuzo Agbo and Claude, two of USC’s top three scorers on the season heading into the game, were limited to 12 combined points.
–Field Level Media
