COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s Kevin Willard walked away from Thursday morning’s film session with little doubt that his team would turn Purdue No. 3 on its head in less than 12 hours.
His Terrapins then came out and proved the prescience of a freshman coach by unleashing a dominating stretch midway through the second half to go around the Boilermakers 68-54 to give Purdue their second loss in a row.
Students stormed the court — and one even climbed onto the basket — after Maryland took their fourth win of the season over a ranked team. Exactly 10 years ago, fans rushed to the same court after Maryland beat the then No. 1. 2 duke.
“I knew we were going to win,” Willard said. “It didn’t come as a surprise to me. This is an incredible program. This is one of the best programs in the country. I thought it was important for the fans and it was important for the students to just understand what this program really is.”
Jamir Young scored 20 points for the Terpovs (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten), who trailed 37-29 before taking a 29-4 lead and taking control. Hakim Hart added 13 points to Maryland, who beat them for the first time since losing to a top three team. 3 Iowa 74-68, January 28, 2016
Maryland improved to 14-1 at home this season and continued its resurgence after going 15-17 last season, the program’s first losing season since 1992-93.
“Like the locker room coach said, ‘Just remember where you were last year,'” said forward Julian Reese, who had 10 points and nine rebounds. “This time last year we had a bad record — I’m not entirely sure what it was — and (now) it’s (18-8) and we just beat a top five team in the country. It definitely boosts confidence, but we have to keep working.”
Zack Adey and Braden Smith each scored 18 points for Purdue (23-4, 12-4), who lost three of four, all on the road. The Boilermakers lost to the smaller Terps 35-23. It was their biggest deficit on glass all season, and only the third time they lost on the backboards.
“We need to be tougher,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “You must come here and win the battle for possession. You should have more rebounds and fewer losses. Now you can start right here and move towards something. We didn’t. When you hit the road and you have fewer balls and now you’re not a good shooter, oh it’s going to be a long night against a quality team.”
The Boilermakers looked set to bounce back from Sunday’s 64–58 loss at the Northwest when they took an eight-point lead in the second half. But possession after Young’s basket, Purdue forward Mason Gillis was charged with a foul and then judged a technical foul for an argument with official Doug Sirmons.
“It was definitely a jump in momentum,” Young said. “We were just trying to limit them to one shot and get out in the transition. That’s when we play our best game.”
This effectively set off a 10–0 rush that prompted Painter to call a timeout. He tried to stop the series again when Hart hit 3 to make it 50-41 – 21-4 at the time.
Maryland continued to rise after the timeout and by the time Hart hit 3 more balls with 7:15 left, the Turps were up 58–41 with Perdue facing their biggest deficit of the season.
“It seemed like they lived about eight feet from the ring right in the middle, and they just broke us down drop by drop,” Painter said.
The Terps eventually extended their lead to 18, and for the remainder of the night, their lead never dropped to single digits against a team that was in first place earlier that month.
BIG PICTURE
Purdue: The Boilermakers’ recent struggles were against good teams, but they weren’t as sharp as they were when they started 22-1. There’s still time to figure things out ahead of the postseason, and Purdue should be buoyed by playing three of the last four regular season games at home.
Maryland: The Terrapins improved to 8-0 in conference home games under Willard. Maryland also avenged their previous loss for the third time this season; The Terps also parted ways with Michigan and Wisconsin.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE SURVEY
Purdue slipped from 1st to 3rd after losing to the Northwestern on Sunday, and the Boilermakers look set to drop at least a few more spots next week.
NEXT
Purdue takes over Ohio State on Sunday.
Maryland visits Nebraska on Sunday.
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AP Collegiate Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
