COLLEGE PARK — The new year did not produce a different outcome for Maryland men’s basketball against Big Ten competition.
Seeking their first victory in the conference under coach Buzz Williams, the Terps instead fell woefully short as visiting Oregon earned a 64-54 win Friday night before an announced 11,291 at Xfinity Center.
Maryland (7-7, 0-3 Big Ten) is now saddled with its first winless opening in the league since 2021-22, when that squad opened with an 0-4 start. The team also failed to collect its first winning streak since stringing together four straight victories in November and dropped its sixth game in its past eight.
An offense that erupted for a 45-18 advantage at halftime on 10 of 19 shooting from 3-point range in Sunday’s 73-58 triumph over Old Dominion was nowhere to be found against the Ducks (8-6, 1-2). The Terps shot just 27.3% in the first half and missed 24 of 33 attempts from the field, including 14 of 18 from long distance. Midway through the period, Maryland missed 10 straight shots.
The Terps did not play much better in the second half, converting 28.1% (9 of 32) of their attempts and making only three field goals in the final 14:10. For the game, they finished with an efficiency rate of 27.7% (18 of 65) that ranked as their second-lowest mark of the season behind a 25% showing in a 70-60 setback to Georgetown on Nov. 7. Oregon made enough baskets when it needed them to keep Maryland at bay and eventually secure the win.
Williams credited the Oregon defense for making life difficult for the Terps. But he also did not question the quality of shots he saw from his players.
“Nothing that we were trying to do was easy,” he said. “I thought a lot of the things that we were trying to accomplish offensively, I would judge them as the right things to do. We didn’t shoot the percentage that we need to shoot. But I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was what I would call a red light shot. I thought we shot a lot of green light shots. We just didn’t make them.”
Senior small forward Solomon Washington led the Terps in both scoring (17) and rebounding (12) for his second consecutive double-double of the season. Junior shooting guard Isaiah Watts, who exploded for 17 points (all in the first half) against Old Dominion, added 11 points, two rebounds and two steals.
But Maryland got too little from players expected to spark the offense in the continued absence of senior power forward Pharrel Payne, who sat out his third consecutive game because a right knee injury.
Graduate student point guard David Coit, the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.7 points per game, scored just eight points. Redshirt freshman shooting guard Andre Mills, who entered averaging 9.2 points, missed nine of 10 shots (including all four from 3-point range) and finished with four points.
The Terps severely missed Payne’s presence in the lane. The Ducks outscored Maryland, 32-12, in the paint and forged a 40-37 lead in rebounds.
Still, Williams wasn’t terribly upset about the rebounding numbers. He added that Oregon finished with just seven offensive rebounds — their lowest total of the season.
“I thought we did a good job on the offensive glass, not a great job,” he said. “They were 18th in the country. We did a phenomenal job keeping them off the glass. But to your point, we didn’t score enough points. We didn’t make enough free throws, and we didn’t shoot the percentage that you need to shoot to win a Big Ten game.”
When the Ducks scored the game’s first six points in 62 seconds, it seemed as if they would cruise easily. But Maryland scored eight unanswered points in a 3:05 stretch for an 8-6 margin.
That would turn out to be the Terps’ only lead of the night. Oregon ripped off a 9-0 run in 2:40 and maintained a cushion that dipped to three points only twice in the first half.
After Washington’s layup trimmed the deficit to 23-20 late in the frame, the Ducks closed out the stanza with an 11-7 spurt to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Oregon inflated its lead to eight points before Maryland senior power forward Elijah Saunders’ 3-pointer knotted the score at 43-43 midway through the period. Undeterred, the Ducks responded with a 12-2 run to end the threat of a comeback.
Washington disagreed with the notion that being unable to capitalize on the 43-43 tie was deflating.
“It’s a game of basketball,” he said. “Teams are going to make runs. We just need to be more mentally focused. Everyone [with] me at the front of the line. Just having the guts to just take on those runs and just fight back, never give up. Just keep going.”
Senior point guard Takai Simpkins paced Oregon with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior center Nate Bittle amassed 17 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three assists, while junior power forward Kwame Evans Jr., a Baltimore resident, racked up 12 points and eight rebounds.
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