Terry provides spark off the bench in UNC rout

Down five to Maryland midway through the first half, North Carolina needed a spark.

Reyshawn Terry was ready to provide it.

The reserve forward took advantage of the sloppy play of several UNC starters to score five first-half points and ignite a dominant stretch that carried the No. 3 Tar Heels to a 109-75 victory against the then-No. 22 Terrapins on Saturday.

“Coach (Roy Williams) is always stressing to us to be ready, that you never know what might happen,” Terry said. “I just took that as motivation and ran with it.”

Terry scored a season-high 11 points in 11 minutes, and his timely shooting allowed North Carolina (13-1, 2-0 in the ACC) to find its rhythm as a team and demonstrate the offensive firepower that has propelled it to its longest winning streak in three years.

MEN'S BASKETBALL Maryland 75 UNC 109

“He’s been playing that way all during practice,” said forward David Noel. “Like I told him, ‘When you get in there, just be ready.’ And he’s been ready.”

Seven Tar Heels scored at least 10 points, including Rashad McCants (19 points), Sean May (14) and Jawad Williams (13).

North Carolina hadn’t had seven players reach double figures since a 121-point effort against Kentucky in 1989.

“When you look down and you see seven guys in double figures, you love that,” Roy Williams said. “I’ve always felt like that’s the most difficult kind of team to try to play against.”

For its part, Maryland (9-3, 1-1) mustered little resistance at either end of the floor, both on the boards and on the perimeter.

Forward Travis Garrison, who finished with 13 points, led the way as the Terrapins stormed out to a 29-24 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half.

“Early in the game, we made some shots that kept us in there,” said Maryland coach Gary Williams. “We had that lead, and then we missed some easier shots than the shots we made to get that lead.”

With Terry’s shooting providing the impetus, the Tar Heels exploded and closed the half on a 23-5 run from which the Terrapins never recovered.

“He’s the reason why we got that lead back,” May said. “Our added depth this year is going to help us, and his emergence makes us that much more deep.”

May, with assistance from forwards Marvin Williams and Jawad Williams, turned in a dominant performance on the boards.

Marvin Williams grabbed nine rebounds, while Jawad Williams snagged seven and May added six.

As a team, North Carolina outrebounded the Terrapins by a margin of 49-28.

“They were a good rebounding team, so all we did was practice boxing out,” Marvin Williams said. “And I guess we did pretty well.”

But, appropriately, the exclamation point to perhaps North Carolina’s strongest team effort of the season came when Terry took an alley-oop pass from point guard Quentin Thomas and slammed home his final two points, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Terry said. “But when he threw it up in the air, I just felt like I had to go get it.”

The display on the offensive end — North Carolina’s fifth 100-point effort of the season — provided necessary momentum and confidence as the team enters the middle of its conference schedule.

But with games against Georgia Tech and Wake Forest next on its slate, the team also demonstrated that it is not just a collection of talented shooters.

Maryland shot just 38 percent from the floor and 9.1 percent from 3-point range, and 10 different Tar Heels had either a steal or a blocked shot.

“We pretty much showed everybody how well we can play together as a team as far as being unselfish and sharing the ball and playing great defense,” McCants said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.