On Monday, Maryland guard Andre Mills said getting revenge against Georgetown for a 10-point loss last year in College Park was “personal.”
The sophomore will have to wait another year for retribution after Maryland barely appeared to show up Saturday night.
Georgetown brutalized Maryland’s defense with a barrage of 3-pointers all night long, and the Terrapins were never able to catch up in an 86-74 loss to the Hoyas at Capital One Arena.
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In front of a frenzied atmosphere amid the first game between the two in the District in a decade, the Hoyas met and exceeded the moment. Of Georgetown’s 15 made field goals in the first half, eight were from three. The Hoyas shot 47% from beyond the arc. The second half was nearly identical as the Hoyas finished 15-30 in 3-point shooting.
Jaland Lowe led the way for Georgetown (2-0) with 22 points and 5-of-8 shooting from three. Kayvaun Mulready knocked down five triples and finished with 15 points. Elmarko Jackson added 17, and center Vince Iwuchukwu scored 12.
Maryland center Pharrel Payne led all scorers with 28 points, 18 of those in the second half when the game was already out of reach, and pulled down eight rebounds. Georgetown has won three of the last five games against Maryland, including two straight after the resumption of the rivalry last year.
“They punched us in the mouth and hit us with a level of physicality,” Payne said, “and we didn’t respond.”
As he did in the season opener against Bucknell, Mills again led the way early with five of Maryland’s first nine points and an early lead. But that was the only familiar feeling to the first game.
Maryland looked unsettled throughout, as if it didn’t know whether to attempt threes to match Georgetown’s pace or try to find an opportunity to drive the lane. Perimeter shooting was downright ugly, with the Terrapins making only three the entire game on 20 shots. Attempts to find any opportunities inside were also unsuccessful due to Georgetown’s interior defense.
Freshman forward Baba Oladotun — who was likely headed to Georgetown before switching his commitment last year to Maryland — was more of a liability than an asset. Oladotun unsuccessfully tried to find a way to the basket against the Hoyas’ twin 7-footers, Iwuchukwu and Chol Machot. He finished with 2 points and only took three shots.
The Hoyas led 16-11 after 8 minutes behind Lowe’s 8 points, as Maryland struggled through a 1-of-9 shooting stretch.
Lowe continued to pour it on. He hit his third triple while falling down at the top of the key. Following a Mills miss, Jackson added one from the far corner, forcing a Maryland timeout with the Hoyas up 29-17.
The Terrapins found a bit of momentum as Wagner went coast to coast off a missed Hoyas three. He drew a foul after he made a layup. It cut the Hoyas’ lead to six, 32-25, with 3:35 to go.
That’s as close as Maryland got.
The Hoyas took a 44-28 lead into halftime on the back of 14 points each from Lowe and Jackson. And any hopes that the Terrapins would regroup after halftime dissipated immediately.
Maryland committed four fouls in the first 33 seconds — three by Mike McNair Jr. alone — putting it immediately in trouble. Maryland committed enough to put Georgetown in the bonus after only 3 minutes, something that wouldn’t matter with the way the Hoyas continued to rain down 3-pointers.
Another rival is on tap next for Maryland (1-1), as the Terrapins welcome No. 9 Virginia to College Park on Friday night.
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