Maryland beats No. 24 Purdue to lift NCAA tournament hopes
When the Maryland Terrapins had one final chance Tuesday night — 16 seconds to muster a game-winning score against visiting Purdue — the ball landed in the hands of Eric Ayala. He drove into the paint and realized as he jumped that he hadn’t drawn a foul, “so as soon as my feet touched the ground,” he said, “I just tried to get back up there as quick as I could.”
As he had hoped, the rebound fell into his hands. Ayala leaped again for another shot, and this time he drew a foul. Ayala headed to the free throw line and calmly hit a pair of free throws, propelling the Terps ahead of the No. 24 Boilermakers.
From there, Maryland’s defense needed to hold firm for just 3.3 seconds to seal the win. Purdue star Trevion Williams grabbed a long inbound pass near midcourt but was called for a double dribble, giving the Terrapins a 61-60 victory and their first Big Ten home win of the season.
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“I think we always answer when our back’s against the wall,” senior guard Darryl Morsell said. “We knew we had to get stops in order to win. We locked in when it mattered, got the stops necessary. We all made some big shots.”
Maryland’s pair of junior guards — Ayala and Aaron Wiggins — fueled the Terps with poise and sharp shooting down the stretch, leading Maryland to an important win in its push for a spot in the NCAA tournament. Wiggins finished with 18 points, and Ayala scored 16. Both hit three shots from three-point range during the second half as Maryland (10-8, 4-7) pushed past Purdue (12-7, 7-5).
Morsell, the Terps’ defensive leader, who hadn’t made a shot from deep all evening, nailed a three-pointer with 1:33 left, cutting Purdue’s lead to 60-58. Maryland forced the Boilermakers into a missed three on the next possession, and Wiggins grabbed the critical rebound. Ayala was fouled on the Terps’ ensuing possession, but he made only one of his two free throws, trimming Purdue’s advantage to one. But Maryland’s defense again came up with a stop, and Ayala’s free throws put the Terps ahead for good.
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“I thought Darryl was terrific all night — defensively, his leadership,” Turgeon said. “He was just not going to let us lose.”
The Terps struggled from three-point range in the first half, but Ayala and Wiggins generated a burst of scoring from behind the arc in the second. With 15 minutes to go and Maryland trailing by six, they combined to hit five shots from deep in about six minutes, putting the Terps ahead for the first time since early in the game.
“Once we got going,” Wiggins said, “there was nothing that you could do to stop us.”
Purdue responded with a burst of its own. With Maryland forward Galin Smith on the bench with four fouls, Purdue attacked the Terps inside and climbed to a seven-point lead. But then Ayala hit another three-pointer with 3:26 left to get the Terps back within 56-52.
Williams dominated Maryland in the paint, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Terps could do little to compete with the Boilermakers on the glass; Purdue won the rebounding battle, 33-24. But Maryland improved in the second half. Wiggins grabbed both rebounds on Purdue’s final two missed shots, and then Ayala’s offensive board in the final seconds set up the pivotal free throws.
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Neither team led by more than three points until late in the first half. The Terps missed 11 of 12 attempts from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes despite some open looks. Purdue extended its advantage to five with less than a minute to go, but Maryland’s Hakim Hart hit a jumper and the defense forced a turnover on Purdue’s final possession. The Boilermakers had a 27-24 lead at halftime; 11 turnovers kept them from moving further ahead.
The rebounding disparity highlights the trouble Maryland has had all season when facing top big men. Maryland relies on Smith, but he is not meant to be much of a scoring threat, and he has struggled to contain some of the skilled players he has faced. Maryland limited Williams to 10 points when host Purdue prevailed on Christmas, but on Tuesday he had a standout performance, including a burst of six points against Maryland’s smaller lineup to start the second half.
Maryland’s struggles — its wayward three-point shooting and its inability to grab rebounds against Purdue’s big men — disappeared when the Terps needed it most. And the players who had entered the season expected to shine in critical moments made shots when the game depended on it.
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Turgeon preaches a one-day-at-a-time mind-set, encouraging his players not to look at how each game could affect Maryland’s tournament hopes. But before Tuesday’s game, Turgeon told his staff, “Guys, we have to get this one.” And they did.
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