Maryland men’s basketball was shooting marginally better on 3-pointers through six games than it did in a dreadful 2023-24 season. The Terps were converting on 30.6 percent of their attempts after shooting 28.9 percent last year.
They showed a newfound ability to catch fire against Bucknell on Wednesday. Maryland made a season-high 12 3-pointers and matched its previous best of nine before the first half ended.
Maryland used that hot shooting and a balanced scoring attack — with four players in double-digits — to defeat Bucknell, 91-67, at Xfinity Center on Wednesday.
“We emphasize a lot of threes in practice,” fifth year guard Selton Miguel said. “[Coach Kevin Willard] was telling me, ‘Every time you’re open, just be confident, shoot.’ There was a lot of space open, especially that 3-2 [zone], so I was just taking advantage of it.”
The Terps showed the capability to shoot a respectable clip from 3 already this season. They shot 37 percent in a loss to Marquette and 39 percent against Mount St. Mary’s — but both on limited volume compared to Wednesday. Maryland jacked up a joint-season high 31 3-pointers and maintained that efficiency.
Sophomore guard Rodney Rice drilled Maryland’s first 3-pointer of the game less than a minute in on the team’s first shot attempt. Miguel quickly joined in with a pair of 3-pointers and another jumper that put Maryland up 15-2 after five minutes.
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The South Florida transfer posted 13 points, all coming in the first half. Miguel was 5-for-22 from deep in Maryland’s first six games after shooting nearly 40 percent a year ago. He went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc on Wednesday.
It wasn’t just Maryland’s top perimeter options, though. Junior forward Tafara Gapare made three of his four attempts after hitting only one 3-pointer through his first six games. Graduate guard Jayhlon Young had his first multi-3 pointer game as a Terp with two.
Gapare had by far his best game with Maryland. The Georgia Tech transfer posted a season-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting, showcasing his high-level athleticism with a monster dunk and a nifty euro step.
“It’s what I see in practice a lot,” Willard said. “ I got to give him a little bit more time to probably be out there and make a difference. But he also has to understand he’s got to come in and just do what he did tonight — be aggressive from the start, came out looking to shoot.”
The game was part of the Saatva Empire Classic, the same event Maryland participated in against Villanova on Sunday in Newark, New Jersey. The Terps took home the trophy after overcoming a 14-point second half deficit to down the Wildcats, 76-75. Both teams hosted a separate opponent on Wednesday as part of the Empire Classic.
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Bucknell (4-4) was Maryland’s highest-ranked non-high major opponent of the season thus far, per KenPom. The Bison slotted in at No. 223 as of Wednesday afternoon, the Terps’ sole non-power conference opponent ranking inside the top 250.
Bucknell center Noah Williamson entered the day leading the Bison in points (16.9), rebounds (7.7) and blocks (2.1) per game. Maryland held the junior to a joint season-low seven points on 3-for-8 shooting. He struggled against Julian Reese and Derik Queen’s size and physicality.
“I hate to say this — you really never worry about big guys,” Willard said. “The only way that we’re going to lose that game is if we get decimated from the 3-point line … a guy like Williamson, he’s a very good player, talented player, but you really just don’t worry about him.”
The Terps’ bigs combined for 29 points and nine rebounds. It was the third consecutive game both players scored double-digit points.
Reese took his first 3-point attempt since March 6, 2022. It was that kind of a night for the Terps — they were able to experiment amid a blowout, and some of their players who had previously struggled found their shooting strokes.