Junior center Michal Cekovsky scored a career-high 16 points and junior guard Jaylen Brantley added 14 as Maryland beat local foe Howard 79-56 on Wednesday at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.

The Terps (9-1), coming off a win at home Saturday against Oklahoma State, entered the game with less than 12 assists per game but had assists on 17 of their first 24 field goals. Junior point guard Melo Trimble added 10 points for the Terps, who shot 50 percent from the field and ended with 20 assists.

Maryland, which trailed midway through the first half, took a 47-33 lead early in the second half on a reverse pivot and dunk by Cekovsky. The 7-foot-1 Slovakian, averaging 8.2 points at game time, made his first start of the season and connected on eight of nine shots from the field.

Brantley hit a 3-pointer to make it 56-39 with 13:20 left. After two nice entry passes Cekovsky had a dunk with 8:51 left in the game to give Maryland a lead of 67-46, and the second unit saw a lot of action down the stretch.

Howard, from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), was led by swingman Charles Williams' 21 points. Senior forward Solomon Mangham added 16 points for the Bison, who fell to 1-6.

Howard redshirt junior guard James Miller, who had 30 points in a win Saturday over American, was held scoreless as he missed all five shots in the first half. Miller had scored 80 points in his previous three outings.

Maryland led 16-10 in the first half on a 3-pointer by Brantley. But Howard took a 22-19 lead as the Bison had four baskets during that stretch that were all from 3-point range.

The Bison have played this year without senior guard James Daniel III, who led the nation in scoring last season at 27.1 points per contest. He has been out with a high ankle sprain suffered in the preseason and is expected to miss two more weeks for Howard, a preseason favorite in the MEAC.

Maryland, from the Big Ten Conference, will host St. Peter's of New Jersey on Saturday. St. Peter's (4-4) lost 62-47 on Wednesday night at Houston Baptist.