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  • Qudus Wahab Scores 18 Points to Lead Maryland MBB Past George Washington, 71-64

Qudus Wahab Scores 18 Points to Lead Maryland MBB Past George Washington, 71-64

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Basketball

Junior Qudus Wahab scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds as No. 21 Maryland moved to 2-0 with a 71-64 victory over George Washington on Thursday night.

Wahab is the first Terp since Steve Francis (1998-99 season) to score 15 or more points in his first two games at Maryland. Wahab had 17 in his debut vs. Quinnipiac on Tuesday.

Wahab's 15 rebounds were the most by a Terp since Jalen Smith had 19 vs. Northwestern two seasons ago. 

In addition to Wahab, Fatts Russell (15) and Eric Ayala (11) also scored in double-figures. 

The Terps outrebounded the Colonials, 48-39 as Donta Scott grabbed 10 boards in addition to Wahab's big night. 

Down 30-27 late in the first half, Terps scored 10 consecutive points -- six by Wahab -- to take a 37-30 lead with 17:46 left in the game. Maryland would never relinquish the lead after that, leading by as many as 12. 

Joe Bamisile led the Colonials (1-1) with 20 points and eight rebounds. Former Terp Ricky Lindo Jr. scored 13 points and grabbed nine boards.  

Turgeon's Take

"First of all, I think you've got to give GW a ton of credit. They were terrific. They competed and played their tails off. They were really good. They were inspired, they had great defensive deflections and they just did a lot of great things. So we've got to give them a lot of credit. I want to give our fans credit getting into the game the way they did. It was kind of nice, kind of fun, I had forgotten what that felt like. Well, I didn't forget, it's just been a long time. You look around the country there's upsets right now, there's a lot of them going on. The guys found a way to win. I didn't like the way we started the game shooting the ball, but I thought we played with some pretty good poise. They just kept making tough shots. We made some mistakes too that we'll learn from but I'm proud of our guys."

Breaking Down The Game

  • The Terps trailed 30-29 at halftime. Wahab had 10 points -- including a dunk at the buzzer -- along with nine rebounds in the first half.  
  • Maryland started off the second half on a quick 8-0 run to open up their largest lead at the time at 37-30. The Colonials refused to go away, cutting it to a three-point game at 44-41 with 12:39 remaining. 
  • George Washington cut the lead to two, 66-64, with 2:14 remaining on a jump shot by James Bishop. The Colonials had a chance to tie the game with 1:14 remaining but Bishop's shot rattled out and Wahab grabbed the rebound. Russell's step back three with 44 seconds remaining proved to be the dagger as Maryland went up six and managed to hold on for the win. 

What A Night For Wahab!

  • In his second game as a Terp Qudus Wahab posted his first double-double with the Terps as he had 18 points and 15 rebounds. He had nine double-doubles in his time at Georgetown. 
  • It was his second time in as many games with double-figure points and 26th time in his career. 
  • With 15 rebounds, it was his 11th career game with 10-plus rebounds. 
  • He also set his career-high in rebounds surpassing his former high of 13 while at Georgetown at Seton Hall (12/23/20). 
  • It was the most rebounds in a game for a Terp since Jalen Smith had 19 vs. Northwestern (2/18/20). 
  • As mentioned, Wahab is the first Terp since Steve Francis to score 15-plus points in his first two games with the Terps. Francis scored 17 in each of his first two games against Western Carolina (11/14/98) and UMBC (11/17/98). 

Double The Pleasure 

  • Russell's 15 points gave him two games in double-figures this season and 78th time in his career. 
  • Ayala netted 11 points for his second game of the year and 53rd of his career in double-figures. 
  • Donta Scott grabbed 10 rebounds for his sixth career game with double-figures on the glass. 

Home Sweet Home

  • Maryland has been dominant at home since the start of 2017-18, collecting a 59-13 (.819) overall record. The program's 59 wins during that span are the most in the Big Ten Conference. 

The GW Series

  • Maryland hosted George Washington in College Park for the first time since 1979. But, the teams have played 10 times since, all neutral sites in Landover, Md. and at the MCI/Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. 
  • The Terrapins hold a 37-31 advantage all-time against the Colonials in a series that dates back to 1913, nearly 110 years ago. 
  • The two teams met nearly every season between 1939 and 1979. Albert King and Larry Gibson scored 20 points each in the last meeting between the teams in College Park on Jan. 3, 1979 - an 84-72 victory for the Terps.

Up Next

  • Maryland will continue its non-conference slate of games as it'll play the Vermont Catamounts on Sat. Nov. 13 at 2 p.m at the XFINITY Center. 
  • The game will be broadcast on B1G+ and can be heard on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.