Villanova Basketball: 3 takeaways from dominant win over Maryland
By John Makuch
2. Early domination
What is so important in a game like this is being able to start fast and get out to an early lead, and Villanova did exactly that against Maryland.
The game began with back-to-back threes by Tj Bamba and Tyler Burton, and they just opened the floodgates early. The Wildcats then went on a run that got them out to that 17-3 start, and they just never looked back. Maryland did not score their tenth point of the night until the 9:27 mark in this game, and the Terrapins then proceeded to only score five more points in the final nine minutes of the second half.
Maryland shot 4-27 in the first half with a 2-14 shooting clip from three. Six of those 15 first-half points came from free throws with this team struggling to shoot from the field. This Wildcat team does a great job rotating, hedging, and everything else you could imagine defensively, Maryland simply could not find an answer.
Villanova also got its fair share of times where Maryland missed good looks and it was just a cold night overall for them, but the Wildcats made it so difficult to find those looks in the first place. But this effort in the first half demoralized Maryland so quickly that this game felt over before it even started, and that is how you win basketball games in the Big East.