We’re back!!! Finally college basketball is back. I haven’t been able to attend a college game in person since March 8, 2020 when Maryland beat Michigan to share the Big Ten title with Michigan State and Wisconsin.
I was pretty surprised however with the lack of attendance. Yes, I know we are still pushing through the pandemic and all of that. But, it was still surprising to me. I guess it will come in time.
Well this game featured a Maryland team ranked #21 with some expectations of making a deeper run into March. They got senior transfer guard Fatts Russell from Rhode Island and junior center Qudus Wahab from Georgetown. Both will provide different options that the Terps clearly didn’t have last season.
Maryland had their way with Quinnipiac all night for the most part winning 83-69.
Russell is a lightning fast guard at 5’11 165 pounds. He looked like he may have bulked up some as well. Russell provided a few scoring bunches on breakaways or from attacking from the perimeter. His first step is explosive and fast. However, the question will be his outside shooting. He’s a tough defender and moves his feet extremely well. A real pest on ball. He finished with 12 points and 4 assists.
Wahab is 6’11 and 240 pounds. He looks every bit of a traditional 5. He has the ability to hit from mid range and looks comfortable doing so. He is strong in the post, but I would like to see him keep the ball higher more consistently. He also tends to fade a lot when taking jumpers while backing an opponent down. With that said, he was making them but I would like to see him more on balance. Wahab finished with 17 points, six rebounds and 2 blocks.
Quiinipiac’s stars of the game were junior shooting guard Matt Balanc (no not Matt LeBlanc, doubtful Joey has hops like Balanc) and senior shooting guard Tyrese Williams.
Balanc is already up for dunk of the year as he absolutely destroyed Russell on a breakaway. Russell sized him up and Leblanc definitely got the better of him. Balanc also showed an ability to get shots off and attack the basket at will. He will be someone to keep an eye on for sure. He finished with 25 points, three rebounds and five steals.
Williams, who struggled shooting last season, looked very comfortable last night. He was pulling up from very deep and looked solid in the catch and shoot situations as well. Would like to see more versatility on offense. More aggressiveness towards the rim, but maybe that will come later this season. Williams finished with 19 points and went 5-9 from three.
Other players I was interested in seeing like Eric Ayala and Xavier Green made impressions as well. Ayala is a scoring combo guard. He will be leaned on heavily to score and he should deliver this season in my opinion. I like his game, but want to see if he can get others involved more and step up his defense as well. Green looked every part of a versatile wing defender. That will be his role on Maryland.
For Quinnipiac senior center Kevin Marfo struggled. He’s an undersized big at 6’8 245. He struggled with Wahab and Julian Reese’s length inside. Of course he makes sure he rebounds and did the little things, but he was blocked several times at the rim. One thing that stood out to me was his ball handling and passing as a big. I wasn’t expecting that. Marfo finished with two points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The other player was senior G/F Jacob Rigoni. The Australian native is Quinnipiac’s all time leader in three pointers made. Consistent shooter, and when he actually attacks the lane he is a crafty finisher. He struggled shooting going 1-8 from three in this game. That was more of anomaly. This is by far his best skill. He finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.
Of course I am mostly interested in watching the Senior’s due to my scouting service But If ever interested I can provide my perspective on other players as well.
On to the next game which is George Washington @ Maryland on Thursday night.
The Young Veteran 