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Mills sparks Maryland men’s basketball to opening 96-67 win vs. Bucknell
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- Mills sparks Maryland men’s basketball to opening 96-67 win vs. Bucknell
COLLEGE PARK — When Maryland men's basketball lost Pharrel Payne to a right knee injury for the final 22 games of last season, Andre Mills filled the void as the team's most dangerous scorer.
Eight months later, Mills doesn't appear to be ready to give up that label. The redshirt sophomore dropped in a team-high 22 points to power the Terps to a 96-67 victory over visiting Bucknell Monday night at Xfinity Center.
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Mills, who also grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds and added two assists, ensured that Maryland (1-0) won its first game of the year for the 13th straight time. The team has not lost in such a scenario since Nov. 8, 2013, when that squad was edged by UConn, 78-77.
In addition to Mills, Payne bounced back from an injury-plagued 2025-26 season. The redshirt senior power forward chipped in 13 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Senior point guard DJ Wagner, a transfer from Arkansas, racked up 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. And sophomore power forward Tomislav Buljan, a transfer from New Mexico, posted 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Three of the team's precocious freshman class earned playing time, with shooting guard Kaden House totaling 14 points, five rebounds and two steals. Power forward Baba Oladotun, the 5-star prospect from Montgomery County, overcame an 0 of 3 start and a 1-for-4 showing on foul shots to finish with five points and four rebounds, while shooting guard Austin Brown compiled two points and three rebounds despite missing all six shots he took.
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Mills was the Terps' primary catalyst, especially in the first half. He scored a game-high 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the floor, 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. By comparison, his teammates combined to shoot 8 of 26 from the field, 4 of 12 from the 3-point line, and 11 of 17 at the foul line.
Mills' explosion covered some of Maryland's warts. The team missed seven of 21 free throws in the first half, with Payne – who converted 71.9% of his foul shots in 10 games last winter – misfiring on 4 of 7. The offense also slogged through droughts of 2:34, 3:19 and 2:02 in the first half.
Maryland opened the game by racing to a 7-3 lead that ballooned to 12-7 just 3:06 into the frame. But after graduate student shooting guard Mike McNair Jr.'s 3-pointer at the 16:54 mark, the offense did not score a point until Mills drained two free throws at 14:20.
The Terps then didn't score again until freshman shooting guard Kaden House sank two foul shots at 11:11 and were mired in another drought until sophomore power forward Tomislav Buljan hit two more free throws at 9:09. During that stretch, they missed 10 consecutive field-goal attempts, and the Bison at one point enjoyed a 25-23 lead with 7:14 remaining in the first half.
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McNair Jr.'s second 3-pointer of the half seemed to lift Maryland, which ran off 10 unanswered points over a 2:20 stretch to assume a 33-25 advantage with 4:41 to go. That burst coincided with Bucknell slipping into a 2:57 drought that included three turnovers.
The Terps ended the first half by scoring 11 of 13 points capped by a 3-pointer and steal-and-layup by Mills. They carried a 44-30 lead into halftime — a gap that might have been larger had they canned more free throws.
Junior shooting guard Aleksander Pachucki fueled the Bison (0-1) with 23 points on 7 of 11 shooting from behind the 3-point line. And junior shooting guard Rocco Lamuno contributed 12 points, three assists and two rebounds.
The setback snapped a two-game winning streak in season openers for Bucknell, which remained winless in 10 meetings with Maryland.
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Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com , 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun .
