The Maryland men’s basketball team defeated No. 3 Purdue, 68-54, on Feb. 16 thanks to a huge second-half run at a deafening Xfinity Center.
Maryland fans packed Xfinity Center and then stormed the court after the Terps avenged their 58-55 loss against the Boilermakers on Jan. 22. Maryland is now 18-8 overall, 9-6 in the Big Ten, 3-0 in return games and 14-1 at home.
“I got caught in that, actually,” said senior guard Jahmir Young, who finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting. “It was hot and everybody was jumping.”
“It was kind of crazy. I was by the bench, so it was easy going under the rope,” said sophomore big man Julian Reese, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. “I saw people falling, so I just tried to get out there. Somebody was on the backboard.”
The Terps came out of halftime firing on all cylinders en route to a comeback win. Maryland began the second half down, 28-25, then fell behind, 37-29, but quickly took the lead after hitting nearly every shot throughout a long second-half stretch.
After a technical foul on Purdue’s Mason Gillis with 15:20 left in regulation, the Terps delivered nothing but haymakers. Maryland went on a 29-4 run to build a 58-41 lead.
“It was definitely a momentum swing,” Young said. “Just trying to limit them and get down in transition. That’s when we play our best ball. The crowd was into it. They were bringing energy. We were taking good shots on our end. We were believing in each other, making the right play and shots were starting to fall.”
Maryland shot 13-for-16 from the floor during the run and finished the half 17-for-27 (63 percent). However, Young said he wasn’t confident the game was over until the waning minutes of the game.
“Really not until the last couple minutes,” Young said. “They’re such a good team, they made a run. They cut it to 11. We just had to make sure we got a good shot and stayed solid on defense. Tried to limit their transition points and make sure we get back, making sure they didn’t get any open threes so that the momentum wouldn’t swing.”
Purdue junior big man Zach Edey finished with 18 points compared to 24 in the first matchup. Terps head coach Kevin Willard believes Reese has more than held his own against Edey and the conference’s other top big men of late.
“I wouldn’t say he’s dominated, but he’s held his own if not played better,” Willard said. “… The biggest thing for us was just make [Edey] shoot a jump hook. He’s going to make some. It’s not the end of the world. And I think he just made it difficult for him and [Reese] didn’t give him any angles where he got anything easy.”
Reese has scored in double figures in seven of the Terps’ last eight games.
“Just exposure,” Reese said of showing up in big games. “Just showing up for my team when they really need me.”
Maryland finished the game shooting 25-for-53 (44 percent) from the field. However, the Terps did begin the game rather slowly.
Maryland began the game by forcing two quick turnovers but could not capitalize, beginning 0-for-4 from the field. This was a precursor to a poor first-half shooting performance by the Terps.
Maryland finished the first half shooting 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) from the field. However, the Terps kept themselves in the game by getting to the free-throw line, shooting 8-for-11 from the charity stripe in the first half. They finished the game 13-for-16.
“I thought we got good shots in the first half,” Willard said. “We were trying to get Zach in the pick and rolls and I thought Zach did a good job of just funneling everything and clogging everything up. … I just thought we came out a little bit pumped up. Defensively, I thought we were great in the first half, but that can work against you offensively.”
Purdue finished the first half shooting 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) from the floor and only went to the free throw line twice (2-for-2). However, Maryland held the Boilermakers to 39 percent (9-for-23) in the second half.
“The biggest thing for us was trying to make sure they didn’t shoot threes. You can’t stop Zach and give threes up,” Willard said. “… So I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we made them work. I thought the press was great.”
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox