It wasn’t pretty, but once again, Maryland men’s basketball didn’t need it to be.
The No. 9 Terps escaped with a 56-51 victory against Rutgers Feb. 4 in College Park, Md. In what head coach Mark Turgeon described as “a great college basketball game if you like defense,” Maryland mustered just 20 first-half points but still went into halftime with a chance. The Terps pulled ahead early in the second period and held on from there, locking down on defense when it mattered most.
Jalen Smith was his now-usual dominant self on both ends, tallying 14 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high six blocks. Anthony Cowan Jr. led the Terps with 17 points, while Darryl Morsell chipped in 14 of his own. Maryland shot 34 percent from the floor as a team and had two separate field goal droughts that combined for 17 minutes in length, but somehow still had enough.
Here’s a five-act recounting of the Terps’ fifth consecutive win.
The Start
Smith started hot, knocking down two threes and throwing down a putback dunk for the Terps’ first eight points. Triples from Cowan and Morsell gave Maryland a 14-6 lead with 12:49 left in the period.
Then Rutgers got hot against the Terps’ reserves, going on a 7-0 run. Akwasi Yeboah leveled the score at 16 with a triple, but Ricky Lindo drove the baseline and gave Maryland the lead back with 9:21 remaining in the half. And that’s when things got ugly.
The Prolonged Disaster
For the next 11:41 of game time, Maryland failed to hit a field goal and scored two total points. These are not typos.
How’s that possible? Well …
And then the Terps added two turnovers, another blocked layup and another missed three to the list to start the second half. So in all, that’s 19 possessions without a field goal — Maryland went 0-for-13 and committed six turnovers during this stretch.
Somehow, the defense kept the game close. Rutgers took a 25-18 lead with 5:26 remaining in the first half, but didn’t score again until 17:15 remained in the game (a drought of more than eight minutes).
The Surge
Donta Scott got the Terps back on the board with a transition layup, then Morsell added a dunk and a layup to trim Maryland’s deficit to 27-26. Smith provided the exclamation points, giving his team a 31-29 lead with a triple and throwing down an and-one dunk to bring the house down.
After threes from Aaron Wiggins and Cowan, Maryland led, 44-36, with eight minutes remaining. The Terps started the second half 10-of-20 while holding Rutgers to 5-of-23 shooting.
The Stretch
Rutgers didn’t go away. The Scarlet Knights went on an 8-0 run during a stretch of 1:24, aided by a (dubious) flagrant foul call on Cowan that led to two Montez Mathis free throws. Ron Harper Jr. hit a baseline jumper to tie the score at 47 apiece with 4:07 to play.
It looked like Yeboah gave Rutgers the lead with a corner three at the 3:25 mark, but officials ruled his bucket a two shortly after. With 2:13 remaining, Cowan was fouled on a triple and hit all three free throws, pushing Maryland ahead 52-49. Rutgers got within one and had a chance at the lead, but Smith rejected a Caleb McConnell layup in the final minute. His sixth block of the night proved to be the difference.
“I didn’t realize I had six blocks,” a sheepish Smith said postgame. “Most of them were fouls and the refs just didn’t call them. But yeah, I was just trying to block everything that went up, and that’s my normal standard — just playing defense and helping my team.”
During the final 54 seconds, Maryland knocked down four of six free throws, Rutgers missed a pair of desperation shots and the Terps escaped with a five-point victory despite going without a field goal in the final 5:33.
The Aftermath
Ugly wins count the same, and Maryland’s had plenty of them. The Terps now sit at 18-4 overall and 8-3 in the Big Ten, tied for first with Illinois (Michigan State was even with these teams before losing to Penn State Feb. 4). They’re still undefeated at home and have won five straight.
There’s still plenty to worry about. Eric Ayala’s slump continued with an 0-for-6 performance (0-for-4 on threes). Maryland still isn’t satisfied with the production level from those outside the top six; Turgeon acknowledges his team won’t reach its potential without improved depth.
“If we get to nine deep, we’re gonna be a heck of a team,” Turgeon said.
Up next is a Friday night clash with Illinois for sole possession of first place in the conference Feb. 7. The Terps escaped with a 59-58 home victory against the Fighting Illini Dec. 7, but Friday will present a whole different test on the road. Maryland has shown, though, that it can win in a variety of ways.
“Last game against Iowa, we scored [82] points and found a way to win the game,” Morsell said. “Today it was a street fight, it was real physical with a lot of fouls and stuff like that. We scored 56 and found a way to win. I’m just glad that we’re finding ways to win regardless of how the style of play is, but we’ve definitely got some improving to do and we’ve got to peak at the right time.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox