Losing two points with less than a minute to go against Purdue’s No. 24, Maryland men’s basketball desperately needed a break. The defense had played tremendously all night, and did just that in the crucial play, forcing guard Jayden Ivey to a deep three-point gap.
Junior guard Eric Ayala then drove in the painting on the other side, weaving his way past several defenders of Purdue to reach the bucket and take the bonus shot. He made the first attempt, but failed to hit the second to tie the game.
The Terps defense once again forced the Boilermakers to lose possession of the next ball, leaving the home team with 16.6 seconds to win the game after a timeout.
With the ball once again in his hands, Ayala dribbled in the painting, hoping to have a similar low success. He shot but didn’t fall, almost putting the contest at risk. But he grabbed his own rebound and scored the free kick to give Maryland a point advantage 3.3 seconds from the end.
The Boilermakers had a chance to quickly put the ball on the ground to win it, but the Terps defense once again recovered, forcing a turn as the seconds passed to seal a 61-60 victory.
“I think we always respond when our backs are against the wall,” said senior guard Darryl Morsell. “… We knew we had to stop to win. So, I think we crashed when it was important, we got the necessary stops and we all did some big shots. “
Before the match, consistency was the main concern of coach Mark Turgeon’s team. The team knew that their identity was in their defense, but their effort and energy on that side of the ball had fluctuated from game to game. Tuesday night was the Terps’ chance to follow their goal of going hard on each ball possession to win their first College Park victory and defeat another ranked opponent. And he did just that in the final minute of the game.
“I told our team … today, I said, ‘Guys, we have to get this win if we want to do something,'” said Turgeon after the win. “Today was very important. It would have been really difficult for us to be part of a postseason if we didn’t win today. ”
The two teams had a close encounter since the start, with neither team scoring more than 10 points until about eight minutes were left in the first half, at which point Purdue jumped to an 11-9 lead.
After struggling to protect Wisconsin in the opening period of their last confrontation, the Terps’ defense forced the Boilermakers to start game 3 to 10 off the ground and frequently turn the ball.
Although it showed much better ball movement than in previous games, sometimes Maryland had trouble getting the appearance it liked against the stifling Boilermaker defense. Still, the players started drawing fouls and were already in the bonus with 9:45 left for the break – although that didn’t sound like much.
Over time, the team found more open kicks, but the Terps were unable to take them down – a common occurrence throughout the season, especially in the first period. Maryland entered the range with a 1 of 12 mark on ball three. The team also did not kick very well in any other part of the field, presenting only 40.9% of percentage of goals after 20 minutes.
With Purdue winning 27-22, the biggest advantage of the game up to that point, and less than a minute to the end of the break, Maryland knew they had to make something happen.
Ayala drove aggressively towards the painting, drawing two defenders close to the basket. Instead of taking the contested shot, he found an open Hakim Hart in the left corner of the arch. After receiving the jump pass, Hart dribbled, faked his defender and drained a two-ball to reduce the gap to three in the interval.
Turgeon often raised his hands in disgust when he saw the Boilermakers ‘kicks fall early in the second half, clearly frustrated by the Terps’ defensive effort not overcome from the first. The coach and his team showed a lot of emotion throughout the confrontation when trying to lead the team to their first victory in their field. He said earlier this week that Maryland could not withdraw a single possession and, if it did, the team was quick to remind them.
With six more points, Purdue had the chance to gain his biggest advantage in the competition and drain the life of the home team. But the Terps were not going to let that happen; there was a lot at stake.
Ayala pressured guard Isaiah Thompson as he tried to make something happen outside the arc, eventually forcing the Boilermaker to throw a jump pass to Treivon Williams in the painting. Received by a swarm of players from Maryland, Williams tried an outbound pass, but Morsell jumped in the air to intercept the ball.
The senior guard ran across the court, took a moment to slow his move, and then tossed a coin to Ayala on the left side of the arc. Ayala quickly launched the triple, bringing the game back into reach.
“I thought Darryl was great all night,” said Turgeon. “Defensively, his leadership, he just wouldn’t let us lose.”
The Terps did not allow Purdue to score in the next two possessions and began to find their pace in the attack, with Aaron Wiggins draining a triple from the top of the arc to tie the game at 36-36.
Purdue shot on his next descent, but Wiggins followed him with another triple from the same spot, making his teammates jump out of their seats, clapping, shouting and waving towels. Maryland could say it was back to the closed game; the question was whether he could capitalize on that momentum.
“Our mentality was to maintain confidence and we knew that the bids would fall in the second half,” said Wiggins. “Once we started, there was nothing you could do to stop us.”
As the fierce game continued to come and go, the Maryland defense once again played the hero by holding Purdue without a goal by 3:21. Still, the contest was open to anyone and the Boilermakers knew it. They then hit five of the next seven shots to lead 52-48 with 4:53 left.
Purdue continued to have a small lead as the minutes passed. Similar to their first match of the season, which the Boilermakers took 73-70 after the Terps failed to convert at the end of the line, the dispute would be reduced. But this time, the Terps refused to let victory slip out of their hands.
“Many of our boys were thrilled because we knew we could do it and everyone believed it,” said Wiggins. “… It was a very good victory for us. You know, it gives us confidence as we continue to play in such a difficult conference and against big teams ”.
Three things to know
1. Maryland forced Purdue to make initial mistakes. Purdue has been one of the teams most likely to turnover in the Big Ten this season, and Maryland made sure to take advantage of it immediately. Led by their senior guard Darryl Morsell, the Terps forced 11 losses in the first half, just two of the average Boilermakers per game.
Purdue ended the game with 15 spins in total, leading to eight points for Maryland with those spins.
2. The Terps were defeated on the boards earlier. For the second consecutive game, Maryland lost the rebound dispute. Purdue had a dominant 17-9 lead on the exchanges in the range, including six on the offensive glass. The Boilermakers went on to overtake the Terps 33-24, with only one Terp in Wiggins registering more than four rebounds. But at the most important moment, Maryland got the rebounds it needed to seal the game.
3. Treivon Williams recovered in style. In the last meeting of these two teams, the lack of problems prevented Trevion Williams from entering his dynamic offensive pace. That was not the case on Tuesday night, when Williams attacked the Terps at will from the start of the game.
He accumulated 23 points from 9 out of 12 shots, achieving 11 rebounds and drawing the game on a high. However, it was Williams’ mistake in Purdue’s final possession in the game that sealed the victory for the Terps.