Burton and Bamba lead No. 21 Villanova to 57-40 rout of Maryland

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Tyler Burton scored 10 of his 15 points in Villanova’s dominant first half, and the 21st-ranked Wildcats rolled to a 57-40 victory over cold-shooting Maryland on Friday night.

TJ Bamba added 11 points as the Wildcats (3-1) rebounded nicely from Monday’s loss to unranked Penn.

Julian Reese had 10 points for Maryland (1-3), which dropped its third straight. The Terrapins finished with just 12 field goals while shooting 24% from the field.

After hitting 27% from long range against the Quakers, Villanova found its stroke from deep early and often against Maryland.

Bamba opened the game by draining a 3-pointer, Burton followed with another one 49 seconds later and the Wildcats were on their way to a convincing victory. Villanova finished the opening half ahead 39-15 after making 13 of 21 shots, including 6 of 11 3-pointers.

Maryland couldn’t find the net, missing 23 of 27 attempts and 12 of 14 from long range in the opening 20 minutes. The Terrapins had as many turnovers (four) as field goals entering the break. They ended the game 12 for 50 from the field and 5 of 26 from 3-point territory.

The Wildcats led by as many as 32 in the second half.

BRIDGES HONORED

Villanova honored two-time national champion Mikal Bridges by retiring his jersey in a halftime ceremony. Bridges, a current member of the Brooklyn Nets who has had a successful NBA career since leaving Villanova in 2018, was elated to be back on campus.

“It’s really special,” he said. “Just blessed, honestly.”

BIG PICTURE

Maryland: After starting 8-0 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Terrapins have much work to do to get back to that level. They can start building confidence with three straight winnable home games against UMBC, South Alabama and Rider, before a visit to Indiana on Dec. 1 in their Big Ten opener.

Villanova: The Wildcats could slip out of the AP Top 25 after the loss to Penn, but could return with a promising showing at the Battle 4 Atlantis next week in the Bahamas.

UP NEXT

Maryland: Will host UMBC on Tuesday night.

Villanova: Will face Texas Tech in Battle 4 Atlantis opening game Wednesday afternoon.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball