No. 14 Arkansas is known for great three-point shooting, but No. 12 Maryland turned the tables on the Razorbacks and rolled to a record-setting 115-96 win in the final game at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Sunday.
It was the first time since 2003 Arkansas faced off against an opponent with both teams ranked among the top 15 in the country. But this one was all Maryland, which was coming off an 81-72 loss to No. 24 Missouri State on Saturday.
The Terrapins (2-1) hit 16 of 31 3-pointers and dominated the glass to the tune of 51-31 to tag Arkansas with its first loss of the season. The 115 points are the most allowed by an Arkansas team since Stanford scored 114 on March 24, 1990.
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said Maryland did what the Razorbacks like to do opponents defensively.
“They played great,” Neighbors said. “They made us wrong. That thing we like to do to people, they did it to us. They hadn’t proven that they can make the 3, but now they did tonight.
“They got the right people shooting them and they were in rhythm.”
Katie Benzan, a 5-foot-6 transfer from Harvard, led five Maryland players in double figures with 28 points, including 8 of 14 on 3-pointers.
Maryland led 57-37 at halftime then exploded for a 41-point third quarter to push its advantage to 98-70 entering the fourth quarter. The Terrapins dominated outside and inside, outscoring Arkansas (3-1) 48-24 from 3-point range and 27-13 on second-chance points.
Makayla Daniels led five Razorbacks in double figures with 21 points. Chelsea Dungee added 18 and Destiny Slocum 16. Sophomore Marquesha Davis added 15 and Jailyn Mason 10, both off the bench.
Neighbors said playing four games in five days to open the season is not something he would choose to do all the time, but this year is different with the covid-19 pandemic.
”When we made this schedule, we knew four games in five days was a real challenge,” Neighbors said. “There’s a reason you only do that during this covid year when you don’t know how many games you’re going to get to play. Let’s play as many games as we can as fast as we can is the plan.
“And I don’t regret it because we’re sitting here at 3-1 and we know a lot about our team. Now, we need to rest and we’re tired, and you could start to see that a little bit in our body language. There was no quit, obviously, even after you give up a 41-point quarter.”
The Razorbacks scored a school-record 37 in the third quarter in defeating Wake Forest, which bounced back to knock off No. 24 Missouri State on Sunday. They also rallied from nine down in the fourth quarter to defeat Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday.
Arkansas will now return home to host Louisiana-Monroe at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, followed by defending national champion Baylor coming to Bud Walton Arena on Sunday.