The numbers were ugly in Maryland’s 66-65 loss to Morgan State at Comcast Center.
The Terrapins shot just 35.6 percent from the floor and committed 21 turnovers. But two other figures should disturb Maryland coach Gary Williams much more.
The number of players Morgan State started from Maryland: 5.
The number of those players that were recruited by Maryland: 0.
“I grew up watching Maryland and now we beat them,” said Morgan State guard Reggie Holmes, who attended St. Frances in Baltimore and scored a game-high 25 points. “They never showed me any love in recruiting. But I didn’t think about showing them up, I just wanted that ‘W.’”
Holmes, who also had eight rebounds, was joined in the starting lineup by four other locals: Kevin Thompson (Walbrook), Rogers Barnes (River Hill), Jermaine “Itchy” Bolden (Douglass) and Rodney Stokes (Glen Burnie).
None had been on the Terrapins’ recruiting board, let alone offered a scholarship. But each had a role in the Bears’ first win over them.
Thompson, a redshirt freshman, finished with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Barnes, the Bears’ defensive stopper, had 11 points and five steals. He contained Maryland standout guard Greivis Vasquez, who had 19 points and nine rebounds but was just 5-for-21 from the floor and 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.
“I’m a walk-on, so it felt great going from that to starting to guarding another team’s best players and being a big part of this team,” said Barnes. “It’s great that I can prove I can play at this level.”
But Morgan State had already proved it was dangerous last month with a 79-75 win at DePaul. When Vasquez’s desperation heave at the final buzzer missed its mark, the Bears simply claimed their latest victim.
“I was like, ‘Please don’t go in, we fought too hard for that to go in,’” said Barnes. “I saw it hit the backboard, and it was just celebration. I just looked around and was like, ‘We really just came in here and won.”
