Maryland men’s basketball never finds its footing in 64-50 loss to Rutgers

Maryland males’s basketball’s offense — whether or not it’s careless turnovers or failure to generate beauty — held itself again all evening.

All of it boiled over with about 12 and a half minutes to play. Trailing 38-30, Jahmir Younger missed the mark on a baseline out-of-bounds cross, turning it over to Rutgers senior guard Paul Mulcahy. Mulcahy, who was alone in transition by the point he corralled the cross, drove all the best way to the cup earlier than being on the fallacious finish of a vicious foul by Maryland sophomore ahead Julian Reese.

The foul was upgraded to a flagrant one, Mulcahy sunk each dead-ball free throws and Rutgers in the end walked away with 4 factors on one possession. These 4 factors encapsulated a 12-0 Rutgers run, and extra importantly a four-plus minute scoring drought for the Terps.

The Terps might by no means discover their footing nor id in Piscataway, New Jersey, falling to Rutgers, 64-50. Life gained’t get simpler for Maryland, which now stands at 10-5 and 1-3 in Large Ten play after one other non-competitive end result, as No. 24 Ohio State involves city Sunday.

Thursday evening’s contest was certain to be arduous for a mess of causes. Merely put, the Terps had been coming off their worst loss since getting into the Large Ten — an 81-46 demolition by the hands of Michigan. Rutgers, however, was driving excessive after beating No. 1 Purdue for the second straight season.

Rutgers additionally got here in possessing the No. 3 protection within the nation, in accordance with KenPom.com’s adjusted defensive effectivity statistic. Jersey Mike’s Enviornment — previously generally known as the RAC — might be one of many hardest locations to play in all of America, and if that protection will get going, the opponent might be “caught in quicksand,” a phrase Maryland head coach Kevin Willard used to explain his group’s struggles in opposition to the Wolverines.

The Terps jumped out to a 4-0 lead, one which was succeeded by fairly the offensive battle. Maryland got here out with a special fervor on the defensive finish in comparison with latest video games, however it didn’t appear to matter. Maryland, but once more, couldn’t generate any type of offense, forcing Willard to burn his first timeout along with his group trailing 11-4 forward of the under-12 media timeout.

Regardless, issues continued to worsen for Maryland earlier than they bought higher. Willard, seeing his group dropping 15-4, burned his second timeout earlier than the 10-minute mark of the primary half. Lastly, junior guard Ian Martinez hit two free throws to chop Maryland’s deficit to 15-6, snapping an incomprehensible scoring drought that lasted eight minutes and 45 seconds.

The Terps held regular defensively, holding Rutgers to a five-plus minute scoring drought of its personal, however couldn’t put forth any resemblance of a reliable offense. Nearly unbelievably, Maryland suffered one other prolonged offensive spell, this one lasting six minutes and one second, earlier than graduate guard Don Carey hit a triple.

Carey hit his second three earlier than the first-half buzzer, and one way or the other, someway, Maryland solely trailed 24-17 at halftime. Maryland’s protection was principally again to its finest within the first 20 minutes, holding Rutgers to 9 subject objectives and forcing 9 turnovers, however its manufacturing on the opposite aspect of the ground made the second half an uphill battle.

Maryland seemingly got here out with new life within the second half, hitting 4 of its first six pictures. It minimize the result in as little as 34-30 with about 14 minutes to play, however by no means nearer.

Rutgers launched into a 12-0 stretch thereafter, placing the icing on the cake of what could be one other blowout loss for the Terps. Maryland fell behind by as many as 18 factors within the second half and by no means bought inside single digits after the Scarlet Knights’ run.

Three issues to know

1. One other depressing offensive first half. The Terps scored 17 factors within the first half, however they one way or the other rattled off two intensive scoreless stretches — considered one of greater than six minutes and one lasting practically 9. Maryland turned it over 12 occasions within the first 20 minutes and had simply 11 factors with fewer than two minutes till halftime. The Terps have been horrific offensively of their final 4 first halves in opposition to energy convention opponents.

2. The place are the celebs? Jahmir Younger, Donta Scott and Hakim Hart had been indispensable in Maryland’s 8-0 begin. Since then, the trio has regressed offensively. Within the first half, Younger, Scott and Hart mixed for simply 4 factors on 2-of-14 taking pictures. Younger had a good second half, ending the sport with 13 factors on 5–of-12 taking pictures. Nonetheless, Hart ended the sport with simply two factors whereas Scott had six.

3. Turnovers galore. Not solely might Maryland not present any believable offense, however it couldn’t maintain the ball in any respect. The Terps completed with 20 turnovers Thursday — some careless, some pressured — for his or her most in a sport this season. Three Terps completed with at the very least three turnovers. Maryland had extra turnovers than made subject objectives (19).