COLLEGE PARK — Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon has raved about the number of outside shooters the Terps have this year since summer workouts.
That was evident in Saturday's 86-52 exhibition-game victory over Division II San Francisco State.
Playing against a sagging 2-3 zone for the entire game at Xfinity Center, Maryland shot 27 of its 44 total attempts from beyond the arc. The fact that they hit more than half of their 3-pointers makes you think about the possibilities going forward.
It also begs this question: Will Maryland's lack of a dominant inside player make a healthy dose of outside shots a necessity in the regular season, particularly against good nonconference teams and later on in Big Ten Conference play?
While it was just an exhibition game, Maryland's 14 made 3-pointers were just off the school record of 17, set against Missouri-Kansas City in 2006, when Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez were freshmen. It was also one more than the Terps made in any game last season (13-for-20 against Morgan State).
"We had a lot of open 3[-pointer] opportunities," said senior transfer Richaud Pack, who hit three of five 3-point attempts. "They were playing [a] 2-3 [zone] the entire game, and I think we shot so many 3s because we were making them. If we had been missing, you would have seen a lot more penetration. When you shoot 55 percent from 3, there's not too much reason to go away from them."