When a revamped Big Ten began conference play in football in the fall, a curious trend emerged.

Teams that traveled at least two time zones found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard, compiling a 9-17 record. That led to some pontificating over whether the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington had a detrimental impact on the rest of the league.

It remains to be seen whether a similar tendency will crop up in basketball. Although each member of the Big Ten played two games each earlier this month, the West Coast schools played amongst themselves.

As the conference begins to prepare for the meat of its schedule this week, senior power forward Julian Reese said he thinks Maryland (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) is prepared to meet the challenge of traveling cross country, which kicks off with road games at the Huskies (8-4, 0-2) on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. and the No. 9 Ducks (11-1, 1-1) on Sunday at 4 p.m.

“Another big test for us,” he said of the trip to the Pacific Northwest. “We’ll see how we do as we try to get a road win in the conference. We already kind of got a sense for what that’s like playing at Purdue. So just going into that road air and that road environment and just being able to take care of business is going to be good for us.”

Here are three observations from Saturday’s 81-66 victory over UMES.

Julian Reese and Derik Queen are every bit as important in the offense as the perimeter shooters

Much has been made about the significance of being efficient from the 3-point line, and that has been exemplified by Maryland’s improved rate of scoring thus far. But the interior presence of Reese and Queen is just as pivotal.

The duo provided another example against the Hawks (4-12). With their teammates converting only 27.8% from 3-point range (5 of 18), Reese, a Randallstown native and St. Francis graduate, and Queen, a Baltimore native, combined to score 41 points (50.6 of the team’s output) and collect 25 rebounds (67.6%).

The pair was critical in the second half against UMES, scoring 24 of the Terps’ 41 points in that frame and assuring that they did not fall victim to a potential upset. The team’s woes from long distance did not seem to bother Reese.

“I feel like since guys weren’t hitting shots — we’re kind of used to hitting shots now — we were just kind of getting down on ourselves,” he said. “Just sticking to our guns and staying with our brand of basketball, that’s what led to us being successful in the end.”

Reese had gone seven games since his last 20-point performance (20 in a 108-37 pummeling of Canisius on Nov. 19). Reese didn’t comment on whether that stretch impacted him, but coach Kevin Willard said Reese’s quick start on Saturday was inspiring.

“He had struggled a little bit early in games,” he said. “Just to kind of see him get a couple of early buckets, you can kind of see it just gave him a little more confidence. I’ve been able to rely on Julian for the last three years. He‘s just one guy that I know is going to bring it every night.”

Once a starter, Jordan Geronimo is a nice complementary player off the bench

Actually, Geronimo, a fifth-year senior small forward, and sophomore shooting guard DeShawn Harris-Smith are both former starters who have been asked to contribute as reserves. And after a slow start, Geronimo loomed large against UMES.

He scored nine points in just 9:35 of play. He nailed his first 3-point attempt of the season late in the first half and provided crowd-rousing dunks to give Maryland its first four points of the second half.

Geronimo — who averaged 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 31 games, including 26 starts last winter — missed six games earlier because of a hamstring injury, and Reese said it was nice to see his teammate regain his footing.

“I feel like Jordan’s going to affect the game in any way,” Reese said. “Sometimes he’s going to score. He’s always going to rebound. He’s going to play defense. He’s always going to find a way to affect the game. That’s what we need, our glue guy on the team who just gets it done.”

Geronimo’s outing helped Maryland outscore the Hawks, 16-7, off the bench, which was a welcomed sight for Willard.

“It was good to see Jordan get out there,” he said. “He’s missed a lot of time.”

Thursday at Washington begins a test of Maryland’s capabilities

The Terps were the first team left out of The Associated Press’ most recent Top 25 poll, receiving 119 points. The next three months will provide a truer view of their worth in terms of earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

In addition to meeting No. 9 Oregon on Sunday, Maryland will clash with No. 22 UCLA (11-2, 2-0) on Jan. 10, No. 24 Illinois (8-3, 1-1) on Jan. 23, No. 18 Michigan State (10-2, 2-0) on Feb. 26. The Terps will also face teams that received votes, such as Indiana (9-3, 1-1) on Jan. 26, Wisconsin (10-3, 0-2) on Jan. 29, Ohio State (8-4, 1-1) on Feb. 6, Penn State (10-2, 1-1) on March 1, and Michigan (9-3, 2-0) on March 5.

The Terps already lost to No. 21 Purdue, 83-78, on Dec. 8 and trucked the Buckeyes, 83-59, on Dec. 4. So Reese feels good about their chances.

“I see the team going far,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good teams, a lot of successful teams in my four years here, and I feel like this team has got a lot of talent, and everybody’s just now starting to find their role and just doing what the team needs them to do instead of worrying about other stuff. I feel like we’re doing good with that. As far as [for] me, I feel like if I just keep doing my thing and just keep rebounding and doing stuff like that and take care of business by being a leader, we’ll be fine.”

While Maryland leads the Big Ten in point differential (plus-26.2 per game) and ranks second in points allowed (61.1) and third in points scored (87.2) and rebounds (39.8), Willard said he would like to see the players build on those rebound numbers and increase its trips to the free-throw line, where the team ranks 13th.

“We’ve struggled to get to the free-throw line a little bit this year,” he said. “Our guards have to rebound the basketball a little bit better. And we have to get to the free-throw line a little bit more.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.