Freshman directs Terps’ comeback
Morsell scores 12 in second half to turn tide against hot-shooting Bison
COLLEGE PARK – The best way to slow down a team that likes to run is by hitting a lot of shots — there’s something about the way the ball trickles through the net rather than clanking off the rim.
Bucknell used that strategy to nearperfection in the first half Saturday, shooting its way to a 15-point halftime lead by making 20 of 31 shots, including seven of 10 3-pointers.
That’s when freshman guard Darryl Morsell, who looked like the second coming of Dez Wells, carried the Terps to an 80-78 victory before an announced crowd of 14,841 at Xfnity Center.
Morsell scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Sophomore point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. led Maryland (4-0) in scoring for the fourth straight game with 17 points while adding five assists.
Sophomore wing Kevin Huerter finished with 16 points before limping off with an apparent leg injury in the final minutes, and freshman center Bruno Fernando had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Justin Jackson added seven points and 10 rebounds.
Inserted in the second-half starting lineup, Morsell (Mount Saint Joseph) scored eight of his team’s first 10 points out of the break and at one juncture had outscored Bucknell 11-9 in the second half.
Coming off a 14-point win over Butler on Wednesday night — the third straight double-digit victory to start the 2017-18 season — Maryland couldn’t get its transition into even first gear until the second half.
It appeared that the Terps had clinched victory with a pair of free throws by Cowan with 4.7 seconds left. But a 3-pointer by senior guard Stephen Brown (game-high 23 points) cut the deficit to two.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Morsell was called for a player control foul, giving the ball back to the Bison (0-4). A play was designed for senior forward Zach Thomas, but he shot too late and was way short, as the Terps escaped with the win. Jackson comes alive — a little: Jackson, who considered leaving for the NBA after his freshman year and has been consistently mentioned as a potential high lottery pick in next year’s draft, appeared to be pressing offensively against Bucknell.
While he grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the season opener against Stony Brook, and played good defense and continued to rebound against Butler, Jackson’s offensive game has mostly disappeared TV: Radio: through the team’s first four games.
After missing his first six shots, Jackson scored on a dunk early in the second half, hit his first 3-pointer of the season after nine straight misses to give Maryland a 71-68 lead. After a basket by Nana Foulland cut it back to one, Jackson followed in his own miss.
CEKOVSKY BARELY PLAYS: Senior center Michal Cekovsky, who had played well since coming back from major surgery on his broken ankle, was used sparingly Saturday while battling strep throat.
Cekovsky played a couple of minutes in the first half after Maryland was being schooled inside by Foulland, but was ineffective.