As Eric Ayala dribbled at the top of the key late Friday, Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon yelled, “Ball screens! Ball screens!” But the freshman had a different idea. He saw Bruno Fernando had some space on the baseline and threw an alley-oop to the 6-foot-10 sophomore, who skied above the rim and threw it down. As Fernando ran down the court, the sparse Xfinity Center crowd that had been treated to a surprisingly exciting game obliged his request for more noise.
Then, Fernando blocked Hofstra forward Jacquil Taylor, completing a sequence that was the highlight of Fernando’s fourth consecutive near-impeccable performance to begin his sophomore year.
Fernando’s 17 points on 8-for-8 shooting led the Terps past a pesty Hofstra team that led by six at halftime and hung around longer than expected but, like Maryland’s other early-season opponents, couldn’t complete the upset and lost, 80-69.
“Y’all know Bruno, man,” Ayala said. “Bruno’s a monster.”
Fernando didn’t start for the first time this year Friday, and Turgeon was cagey about the reason — ”I’m about teaching life lessons,” he said — but whatever Fernando did to run afoul of his head coach wasn’t the reason he played just seven minutes before halftime. Fernando quickly got himself into foul trouble, which has been the lone blemish on his statlines this year.
But the sophomore wasn’t whistled again until there were only five minutes left in the contest, and after some preemptive pleading to Turgeon, he remained in the game. Fernando never left the court after halftime.
“We established Bruno in the second half right away,” Turgeon said. “[He] opened things up for everybody else.”
With about eight minutes left, Fernando caught a pass in the post and was immediately double-teamed. He took a few dribbles before passing to a wide open Aaron Wiggins in the corner. Wiggins knocked down his second consecutive 3-pointer and extended the Terps’ lead to 10. The Pride called timeout, having lost control of a game they had still led about nine minutes prior.
“His presence is always insane,” Wiggins said. “Once he gets a few buckets, teams start trying to double him … [and] he’s able to kick out and we get open shots. And if we’re hitting shots, that’s a dangerous team.”
Playing without Fernando for much of the first half, the Terps struggled. Pride forward Stafford Trueheart drained back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot on the floor in front of the Maryland bench. The first drew an exaggerated, “Oh my God,” from Turgeon. The second got a slight chuckle from the eighth-year head coach, apparently at a loss for words with his team down five points to Hofstra deep in the opening half.
The Pride made four of their final eight 3-pointers of the half and took a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
“We outplayed them for 25 minutes,” Pride coach Joe Mihalich said. “[But against] a good team like that, you can’t just play 25 minutes.”
Fernando had Maryland’s first points of the second period, and his 5-for-5 performance after halftime powered the team to a 62.5 second-half field goal percentage. The Terps took a 47-44 lead with about 15 minutes left, when Fernando saved a loose ball that led to a 3-pointer from Ayala.
“Those hustle plays was what we talked about at halftime,” Turgeon said. “We had to have a few of them.”
Six Terps finished in double figures, and all but one scored most of their points in the second half. Ayala scored 11 of his 14 after halftime, and Wiggins had nine of his 13, including a pair of 3-pointers assisted by Fernando.
Hofstra guard Justin Wright-Foreman finished with a game-high 27 points, but it was Fernando who owned the night — and the second half. He added seven boards to his 17 points, lifting a team he increasingly appears to be the star of, and leaving the Pride helpless to stop him or the shooters they left open because of him.
“I don’t know if theres a player in the country that’s improved as much from this time last year,” Turgeon said. “He’s dominant.”
