COLLEGE PARK — Selton Miguel hit his season high in the first half and finished with 24 points as Maryland shot 57.7% from 3-point range and cruised to a 111-57 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday night.
“This is his fourth different team, so for it to magically happen right away, it’s not going to happen sometimes for a fifth year guy. And to Selton’s credit, he has stayed extremely positive,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “His work ethic has been great, and you’re just seeing the result now of him just getting a little bit more comfortable with what things are doing.”
In their final home game before Christmas, the Terrapins (9-2) overwhelmed the Red Flash thanks to Miguel, the South Florida transfer who finished a point shy of his career high of 25 on 10-of-13 shooting. Maryland made 15 of the 26 threes it took, the second-highest total made in a game in program history.
“Just felt like when I hit my first my first shot, things just [started] getting open,” Miguel said. “Coach Willard just told me to be more aggressive, and I did that tonight.”
The outcome was decided by the break, with a 38-8 Maryland run that closed out the first half. Maryland had its fifth 50-point first half of the season after only reaching that mark twice in all of last season.
“We’re able to consecutively press. So when you score and you can get after it and keep after it and get teams to take rush shots and then maybe get a turnover and get your tempo going and get up the floor, you’re going to have those runs,” Willard said. “We couldn’t have those runs last year because we couldn’t score.”
Four other Terrapins finished in double figures. Rodney Rice scored 16, Derik Queen had 15, Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 11 and Julian Reese had his fourth double-double of the season and 26th of his career with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Even play from both squads started the game, with each shooting better than 50% from the field in the first 9 minutes. Miguel scored six of Maryland’s first 10, which was followed by a 7-0 Terrapins run and a 17-10 lead.
Any thought of the Red Flash (4-8) keeping pace went away at the hands of Miguel and Maryland’s bigs in Queen and Reese. The Terrapins mounted an 18-2 run across the middle of the first half and a 35-23 lead with 5:30 to go.
Rice, Miguel and Gillespie added to the party, hitting back-to-back-to-back threes in the final five minutes to give Maryland a 55-29 advantage at halftime.
Saint Francis didn’t score for the final 2:28 in the frame as Maryland finished 61% from the floor and 53% from three, including five triples in the final 5 minutes. Miguel scored seven of Maryland’s first nine points after the break, and the rout was on. Maryland closed the game on a 16-0 run and finished with its most points in a game in 19 years.
“I think these guys are starting to understand a little bit that, you know for the main part, those five guys, six, seven guys, are going to be out there, the ball is going to eventually come back to you, just be patient and let’s take, let’s get, let’s get good possessions every time,” Willard said.
The Terrapins only have two nonconference games remaining this season. They will travel to Brooklyn this Saturday to face Syracuse at the Barclays Center as part of the Gotham Classic, then return home after the holidays to host Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 28. Big Ten play resumes at the start of the new year, with a road trip to Washington and Oregon.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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