The Terps look to start the season 3-0.
Maryland men’s basketball has not wavered in its first two games, taking care of business at home against Manhattan and Mount St. Mary’s. A multitude of different players have chipped in to the winning effort, contributing in the scoring column and on the defensive end.
Against Mount St. Mary’s, Rodney’s Rice’s 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting was the story, while Derik Queen was the star against Manhattan, posting 22 points and 20 rebounds in his first collegiate game.
Now, Maryland turns its focus to Florida A&M, who heads to College Park for another Terps home game.
The Rattlers have been trounced in each of their first two games. First, they were defeated by TCU, 105-59, before traveling across Texas to SMU and getting demolished, 102-73. Florida A&M has just two different players scoring more than 10 points in a game this season.
Monday’s game will begin at 7 p.m. and air on Big Ten Network.
Florida A&M Rattlers (0-2, 0-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference)
2023-24 record: 6-23, 4-14 SAC
Head coach Patrick Crarey II just started his first season at the helm of the program after being hired in April. Prior to Florida A&M, Crarey was the head coach at St. Thomas, where he amassed a 61-27 record in three seasons and led the Bobcats to two consecutive NAIA Tournaments. As head coach of Washington Adventist, he won an NAIA national championship in 2014.
Players to watch
Sterling Young, senior guard, 6-foot-1, No. 4 — Young started Florida A&M’s first game of the season on the bench, but was the Rattlers’ highest-scoring player with 16 points. The next closest player scored eight points. Against SMU, he continued his strong play and earned the start, supplying 15 points and three assists.
Jordan Chatman, senior guard, 6-foot-4, No. 2 — Chatman, like Young, did not start in the Rattlers’ first game, but he posted eight points and a rebound in 15 minutes off the bench. He also started the next game against SMU and impressed, notching 13 points and five boards.
Saiyd Burnside, redshirt junior forward, 6-foot-9, No. 35 — Burnside did not start against TCU in the team’s first match of the season as well, but after he posted eight points, five rebounds and an assist in just 13 minutes, Crarey inserted him into the starting lineup. Against SMU, he had seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
Strength
Guard play. The Rattlers’ three highest scoring players so far this season — Young, Chatman and Milton Matthews — are all guards. Chatman and Matthews especially boast impressive size for their position, which could potentially disrupt Rice and Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s flow.
Weakness
Rebounding. Florida A&M’s bigs have not been imposing at all through the team’s first two games this season. The team has been outrebounded 92-63 thus far, which could open up opportunities for Queen and Julian Reese to have big games.
Three things to watch
1. Can Rodney Rice continue his hot start? Maryland is surely ecstatic to see Rice playing this way after not seeing the court at all last season. He has 40 points through the team’s first two games, and has come off the bench in both. It will be not only interesting to see if his production continues, but if head coach Kevin Willard will make any lineup changes as a result of his stellar play.
2. Will post play flourish? Queen and Reese saw a dip in production last game, and Queen played just six second-half minutes before appearing to favor one side while walking off the court. With the Rattlers’ bigs struggling thus far, one-on-one mismatches in the post early and often after an outstanding perimeter game against Mount St. Mary’s could be in the cards.
3. Will the bench rotation start to shake out? With the game in hand early against Manhattan and Mount St. Mary’s, Willard experimented with a number of different bench combinations. While it projects to be a similar result Monday, it will be interesting to see if the rotation starts to become more whittled down and concrete.
Willard mentioned postgame Friday that forward Tafara Gapare would see the court more often after he impressed against the Mountaineers.