Fernando’s double double lifts Terps
including his first career 3-pointer in the second half, to finish with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Maryland (18-11, 7-9 Big Ten) used 10-0 runs at the start of each half to take control of the game early and eventually build its lead to as many as 24 points with 14:39 left in the game.
Rutgers (13-16, 3-13) cut its deficit to nine with about four minutes left before the Terps finally put the Scarlet Knights away.
Sophomore guard Kevin Huerter then hit a runner and fellow sophomore guard Anthony Cowan Jr. smothered a baseline shot by Rutgers guard Corey Sanders.
With the Terps up 12 after a free throw by Huerter, the Scarlet Knights cut their deficit down to seven with under a minute left to play.
Cowan added 14 points for Maryland, while adding a team-high six assists and five steals. Cowan also held Sanders to six points on 3-for-14 shooting. Huerter scored 11 for Maryland Third double double for Fernando: When Fernando scored on a post-up move on Maryland’s opening possession of the second half, it gave the 6-foot-10 Angolan a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds — with all the rebounds coming in the first half.
It was the third double double for Fernando, the first coming on Jan. 2 when he had 17 points and 11 rebounds in a home win over Penn State and the second being a 20point, 10-rebound performance in a road loss at then-No. 3 Purdue on Jan. 31.
While the double double against the Boilermakers and 7-foot-2, 290pound senior Isaac Haas remains the most impressive given the setting and opponent, what he did Saturday was eye-popping at times.
One play midway through the first half deserved to make ESPN’s top 10: a thunderous one-handed dunk off a lob pass from fellow freshman Darryl Morsell (Mount Saint Joseph) on an inbounds pass from under the Maryland basket. Layman sees some similarities: Jake Layman, who joined Trimble in returning to Xfinity Center on Saturday night as honorary game captains, said during a pregame news conference that the struggles of this year’s team reminds him of what he experienced early in his career.
“It reminds me of my sophomore year a little bit, and freshman year also,” said Layman, now in his second year with the Portland Trail Blazers. “They’ve just got to stick with it. They’re a young team with a bright future.”
After the Terps went 25-13 in 2012-13 when Layman was a freshman — one of four to play significant minutes that season — and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT, Maryland fell back to 17-15 the following season.
The other three players Layman came in with — Seth Allen, Shaquille Cleare and Charles Mitchell — left after that season with rising senior Nick Faust (City) while Trimble came in, leading the team to three straight NCAA tournament appearances. RUTGERS (13-16): Omoruyi 5-7 1-2 11, Doucoure 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 3-14 0-0 6, Baker 2-7 0-0 6, Thiam 4-9 0-1 9, Freeman 2-6 3-4 7, Sa 2-4 0-0 4, Doorson 2-3 0-0 4, Dadika 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 22-58 4-7 51. MARYLAND (18-11): Fernando 8-9 1-2 18, Morsell 3-7 1-1 7, Cowan 5-10 3-4 14, Wiley 2-7 0-0 6, Huerter 3-10 5-7 11, Tomaic 1-2 0-0 3, Cekovsky 1-1 0-0 2, Nickens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-46 10-14 61. Halftime—Maryland 31-19. 3-Point Goals—Rutgers 3-19 (Baker 2-5, Thiam 1-4, Freeman 0-1, Sa 0-1, Williams 0-4, Sanders 0-4), Maryland 5-17 (Wiley 2-6, Fernando 1-1, Tomaic 1-2, Cowan 1-3, Morsell 0-1, Huerter 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Rutgers 31 (Freeman 10), Maryland 28 (Fernando 16).