No. 19 Connecticut 78, Maryland 77: Shabazz Napier collected 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists before fouling out late as the Huskies held off a furious charge from the visiting Terrapins to take the season opener.

Niels Giffey scored 13 points off the bench and Omar Calhoun added 10 points for Connecticut (1-0), which nearly squandered a 17-point lead. Ryan Boatright scored nine points but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 26 seconds left to leave the door open.

Nick Faust scored 17 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13 and nine rebounds for Maryland (0-1). Dez Wells and Jake Layman chipped in 13 points apiece.

Giffey went 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half as the Huskies cruised into the break with a 48-36 lead. The Terrapins cut it to 59-50 six minutes into the second before Napier and Calhoun nailed back-to-back 3-pointers.

Napier stole the ball from Wells and pushed it ahead to Boatright for a transition dunk and a 67-50 lead with 11:59 left, but Napier was called for a technical foul on the way back down the court and Maryland used that momentum shift to rip off an 11-0 burst behind nine points from Layman. The Terrapins whittled the deficit to 78-77 on Wells’ jumper in the lane with 39 seconds left, but Wells missed jumpers on two straight possessions in the final 14 seconds as Connecticut held on.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Maryland G Seth Allen sat out with a broken foot and will miss 8-10 weeks. … DeAndre Daniels and Amida Brimah each blocked three shots for Connecticut. … Wells committed six turnovers to go along with six assists and seven boards.