COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maybe it was jet lag. Perhaps it was the meager crowd, or the downgrade in competition after playing in the prestigious Maui Invitational.
Whatever the reason, No. 23 Maryland plodded through a sluggish first half Sunday against Nicholls State and headed toward the locker room with a tenuous nine-point lead before pulling off an 88-56 victory.
"We had some guys today that were not really ready to play," said coach Gary Williams of Maryland's 39-30 halftime lead. "It's one of those things, I guess, you can say coming back from Hawaii is a tough thing."
The second half, however, was a different story. The Terrapins opened with a 16-0 run and cruised to their 23rd home victory in a row against a non-conference opponent.
Chris McCray scored 20 points, and Ekene Ibekwe scored nine of his 15 during the 16-point blitz that put Maryland up 55-30. The margin swelled to 31 points with 10 minutes left.
Two days after returning from Hawaii, where they played three games in less than 48 hours, the Terrapins (4-1) struggled for 20 minutes before finally playing to form.
"I think a couple of guys were tired," McCray said. "I know myself I'm still trying to get accustomed to this time over here because I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
The crowd was announced at 17,950, but there were far more empty seats than fans.
"The gym was a third full, things didn't work right in introductions, coming back from Hawaii. ... It's something you don't like to talk about," Williams said. "You don't make any excuses."
Nik Caner-Medley scored 16 points and D.J. Strawberry had 12 points and a career-high 12 assists for the Terrapins, whose non-conference home streak will be tested Wednesday by Minnesota in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
"I think we have to come out and play with more fire. Hopefully it comes out on Wednesday," McCray said.
The Terrapins had only eight turnovers, three after halftime. McCray sank all three of his 3-point tries in the second half.
Stefan Blaszczynski scored 20 for Nicholls State (1-4) and Ryan Bathie had 12 on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. The Colonels were playing in their fourth game in seven days, and it showed in the second half.
"We were delighted to find ourselves in the game at halftime, and then what we were afraid would happen from the first tip happened at the start of the second half," coach J.P. Piper said. "Their superior talent and athleticism took over a little bit, and they made a run and separated themselves. Give credit to them, they're a great team."
Nicholls State scored only 26 points in the second half and committed four turnovers during Maryland's 16-0 run.
Caner-Medley and McCray each scored 11 points before the Terrapins trudged into the locker room at halftime.
"It was pretty obvious we had to step up our intensity," Caner-Medley said. "It was something that didn't take anybody saying anything. We're a smart group of guys. We know we needed to play better."
Maryland made eight of its first 13 shots for an 18-7 lead, but Bathie hit a pair of 3-pointers in an 8-0 spurt that brought the Colonels to 31-24. Strawberry then made a 13-footer and McCray added a layup for an 11-point lead.
"We jumped out to a 15-point lead and we gave them a couple of 3s to get back into the game," Strawberry said. "Against good teams we can't do that."
Nicholls State had 11 turnovers and 11 baskets before halftime.
