No. 23 Maryland men’s basketball return to College Park undefeated  – WMUC Sports

Picture Courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Head coach Kevin Willard and No. 23 Maryland males’s basketball (5-0) are surpassing early season expectations. 

Earlier than the season started, Willard talked about that the staff’s yearly objectives embrace profitable a Massive Ten Championship and a Nationwide Championship with the hope of elevating one other banner at Xfinity Middle. 

The Terps are on their option to making noise when Massive Ten play begins subsequent week however first the Terps will tackle their neighbors, Coppin State (3-4) on Friday afternoon the place a Maryland legend will return to Xfinity Middle. 

Maryland’s all-time main scorer and 2002 Ultimate 4 MVP Juan Dixon is the top coach of the Eagles in his sixth season with this system. This would be the first time Dixon will coach towards his alma mater. 

“The youngsters play onerous, [play a fun style of basketball,” Willard said. “I think anytime you can bring someone that hung the banner, … and celebrate him coming back is really important. He’s a huge part of Maryland basketball history.”

The Eagles are on a two game losing streak, but are averaging 75.7 points per game with wins against Navy and Mount St. Mary’s.

Graduate transfer guard Sam Sessoms leads the Eagles in scoring averaging 22.0 points a game. The Terps are familiar with Sessoms as he played at Penn State the last two seasons. Last year against the Terps, Sessoms scored 17 points in 25 minutes. 

The Eagles also have a strong defender in guard Nendah Tarke who recorded 94 steals last season, the second highest amount in the nation. So far this season Tarke has sixteen steals, recording four steals in a game twice. 

The Terps entered the AP Poll at No. 23 after winning the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament last weekend, its first regular season tournament championship since 2019. It is the Terps first appearance in the AP Poll since week two of the 2021-2022 season.

The Terps dominated Saint Louis and Miami last weekend, dominating the boards, a potential weakness for Maryland when conference play starts. Maryland outrebounded Saint Louis and Miami 80-55 over its two games. 

The Terps got contributions from all their starters as forward Donta Scott scored 49 points last weekend tying his career high of 25 points in the victory against Saint Louis.

The Terps new backcourt duo guards Jahmir Young  continued his hot start to the season while Don Carey started to find his groove. Both players scored double figures in both games in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament. 

Carey really heated up in Uncasville, CT showing his range from deep going 8-19 from beyond the arc, hitting four 3-pointers in each game. 

“Coach Willard has really been emphasizing inside out threes so just penetrating and getting in the paint and just kicking out to teammates,” Carey said after the Saint Louis win. “Those are better quality threes.”

With the Terps strong start to the season they would likely be in the NCAA tournament if the season ended today. On Tuesday, Maryland entered Joe Lunardi of ESPN’s Bracketology prediction for the first time this season as the No. 7 seed in the East Region. The Terps are also currently ranked No. 24 in the KenPom rankings. 

 “We’re still growing,” Young said after the Miami win. “We get after it in practice, that builds our chemistry a lot. I feel like we have a lot to get under our belt, still got a lot to learn. It’s good to get the first five wins, we just gotta keep going from there.” 

The Coppin State game can be streamed on Big Ten Plus on Friday at 4 p.m.

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