Coit now has two of the six highest-scoring games in Terps’ history.
Before Sunday, Diggy Coit had shown flashes of a scoring ability that rival anyone in the country. His 41-point explosion against Mount St. Mary’s in November was tied for the third-most points in a game in Maryland men’s basketball history.
But even to that standard, Coit’s showing Sunday afternoon against Penn State was a completely new gear.
The graduate guard’s 43 points is tied for the second-most in a game in program history. Coit is the second player in program history with multiple 40-point games as a Terp. The other was Gene Shue, who did so in 1953. Shue also invented the spin move.
It wasn’t due to extreme shot volume, either — Coit was 14-of-23 from the field and 9-of-15 from deep.
That effort was more than enough to guide the Terps to a dominating 96-73 win at Xfinity Center. It’s their first Big Ten win of the season, and only their third win since Thanksgiving.
It took an all-out defensive effort from the Nittany Lions to prevent Coit from breaking the record (44). After stellar back-to-back 3-pointers with 5:22 and 4:39 to go, they threw the kitchen sink at Coit — complete with full-court presses, double teams and half-court traps despite being down as much as 24 points.
Coit only got two attempts to break the record. Both were long-range and well-contested. They would have been outrageous attempts for anyone without multiple 40-point games on the season.
He’s also the only Division I player in the country with multiple 40-point games this season.
Coit — generously listed as 5-foot-11, attending his fourth school in five years — has become a Maryland folk hero even amid one of the program’s worst seasons in decades.
The former junior college, Northern Illinois and Kansas product showed why head coach Buzz Williams pursued him in the transfer portal so aggressively. Coit was absolutely untouchable in the first half.
He dominated the ball and used his diverse dribble package to get into his signature step-back look; which he drilled shots from repeatedly. Some of those 3-pointers were from spots that haven’t been attempted from at Xfinity Center since Caitlin Clark came to town in February 2024.
Coit had 22 points in the game’s first 15 minutes. After Isaiah Watts nailed a 3-pointer and Penn State’s Melih Tunca missed an attempt of his own, the ball was back in Coit’s hands.
First, he tried to get open via the stepback. But he was covered. He tossed the ball over to Aleks Alston, who handed it right back and set a soft screen. Coit fired away from the court’s side logo — a preposterous idea on 99 percent of occasions. But the immediate roar from the crowd when he released proved Sunday afternoon was one of that 1 percent.
That shot gave Coit 25 points, matching Penn State’s entire total. By halftime, he had the Nittany Lions beat by himself, 30-26.
26 points by his teammates meant Maryland led, 56-26, at the break.
Penn State gave Maryland its only scare of the night in the second half’s opening, embarking on a 15-0 run out of the break. By the 11:33 mark, the Terps’ 30-point halftime lead was down to just 10.
But back-to-back Andre Mills baskets ended the scare, and it was just minutes later that Coit got back into form. He scored seven points on an eight-point Maryland run to bring the lead back over 20, and Penn State began to focus more on preventing the record than winning the game.
Three things to know
1. First-half defensive excellence. Coit’s 30 points weren’t the only reason Maryland led by exactly that much at halftime. It was also in large part due to Penn State being held to just 9-of-27 from the field and 2-of-12 from deep in the opening 20 minutes. Kayden Mingo was the only Nittany Lion to top five points in the half — he had 11.
2. Complimentary efforts. Coit will receive the headlines — rightfully so — but it’s worth mentioning the Terps that showed out around him.
Elijah Saunders had one of his better offensive showings of the season, finishing with 16 points and 3-of-6 from deep despite fouling out. Mills’ stretch to end Penn State’s run was crucial. Solomon Washington finished with double-digit rebounds (11) for the fifth time in seven games. Darius Adams had 14 points, three assists and three boards.
Maryland’s 18 made 3-pointers is also a new program record.
3. A monkey off the Terps’ back. The energy around Maryland entering Sunday was anywhere from bad to nonexistent. That’s what a seven-losses-in-eight-games stretch does to a team.
Penn State is far from a top-tier opponent; it was one of the few teams the Terps were still favored against. But an exciting, dominating showing is exactly what Maryland and its fans needed. Does it change much about the season outlook? No. But it’s an incredible pick-me-up in the middle of what’s been an otherwise awful season.
Category: General Sports
