Donta Scott powers Maryland men’s basketball past No. 17 Illinois
(Photo Courtesy of Maryland Athletics.)
In pursuit of a commanding lead and with the absence of a commanding pigment presence in Kofi Cockburn, Donta Scott attacked the basket just as Maryland did all dark.
Scott crossed his defender over, powered his way nether the rim and muscled his man off to finish with the foul. The junior forward let out a hearty roar following the whistle and went on to score five more points, securing Maryland's first home win of 2022.
"Donta Scott did a slap-up job of taking advantage of the fact [Cockburn] wasn't at that place," Illinois caput bus Brad Underwood said.
With the services of Scott, Maryland men's basketball (10-9, 2-6 B1G) toppled No. 17 Illinois, 81-65. Scott, who came off the demote for the first time all season, scored fifteen of his career loftier 25 points in the 2nd half.
"This was a high quality Big X game," acting head coach Danny Manning said. "With or without Kofi [Cockburn] that is a great basketball team … love the way we played."
Without Cockburn, an intimidating two-way paint threat, Maryland'due south second meeting with Illinois began with plenty of competitive verve. Both sides came out of the opening tip shooting at a high rate, hovering effectually the fifty% marker from the field for much of the first half.
In the first twenty minutes, the Terps took reward of the massive pigsty Cockburn left behind and kept close to the Illini while quickly climbing to a considerable 20 paint bespeak full to Illinois' 10. The Terps ended with a resounding 40 pigment points to Illinois' 13.
Behind x points from Donta Scott and 8 from both Eric Ayala and Wahab, who as well enjoyed the open restricted area with his first double digit outing since early January, Maryland escaped the half with a modest 37-35 lead.
Briefly, the success failed to carry over in the second half, equally Illinois began showing its versatility as a ranked opponent and Maryland began to falter under the pressure level of its high-powered offense.
It was a familiar plummet that featured a downpour of threes. The Illini got off to a x-3 offset and Alfonso Plummer led the style in the opening menses with four and his teammates joined to get the squad to 11 triples.
Merely every bit the Illini grew likewise reliant on threes and saw their excellent pct drop below xxx% in the second one-half, the Terps took prompt reward of the visitors' struggles, and Scott was the lead man to end Maryland'southward losing streak.
"I was just able to take advantage of the smaller defenders on me," Scott said.
After taking their largest lead of the half, 61-58, Scott continued to pile on points with 9 straight. All of his baskets came in the pigment and the Illini had no one to finish him. Scott's isolation baby hooks and dribble drives gave the Terps the game-deciding, multiple-possession pb that put the game to rest.
"Donta'south a terrific basketball role player, and his skill set allows him to do a lot dissimilar things out on the court," Manning said. "But I remember this blazon of game for him is what we would like to see."
Source: http://wmucsports.net/donta-scott-powers-maryland-mens-basketball-past-no-17-illinois/
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