Maryland men's basketball makes its second straight historical loss vs. Purdue

Chase King
13 hours ago
4 min read

Maryland Men’s Basketball (8-13, 1-9 Big Ten) hosted No. 12 Purdue (18-4, 8-3 Big Ten), where they would continue their downward spiral in a 93-63 loss, Maryland's largest loss in the XFINITY Center.

The Terrapins are coming off a 43-point massacre against No. 10 Michigan State, where they lost 91-48. That was the biggest loss for Maryland since 1944.

After an eight-day break, Maryland would change up its starting lineup with Myles Rice entering the lineup for the fourth time this season alongside Darius Adams, Diggy Coit, Solomon Washington, and Elijah Saunders.

Maryland held a Pink Out to raise awareness of cancer, support those fighting against cancer, and honor cancer survivors.

Rice was diagnosed with Cancer in September 2022 after his first year of college basketball at Washington State and underwent Chemotherapy for months before ringing the bell on March 9th, 2023, signifying he had beaten cancer.

“What he overcame prior to going to Indiana is like worthy of a good article. It's a - there's some layers there,” said Head Coach Buzz Williams. “His life story is incredible, very articulate, as you know. Built 1,000% on the right things.”

The Terps would not find any quick success with their new lineup as Purdue flew out to a quick 25-7 lead.

Purdue’s guards, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, would take over the game from the jump, knocking down three after three.

In the first half alone, Loyer would score 21 points while shooting 5-for-7 from three, and Smith would score 14 points while shooting 4-for-5 from three.

Purdue killed the Terps on the boards early, which allowed them to control the game. The Terps would only attempt eight shots in the first 11 minutes of the game, making only three of them. Purdue out-rebounded Maryland 20-to-7 in the first half.

Maryland entered the game 217th in defensive rebounding in the country, with only 21.9 defensive rebounds a game, which has only gotten worse with the extended absence of Pharrel Payne.

“We have to salvage, on both sides of the ball,” said Williams. “We're making progress at times when the ball is on the ground, but we have to stop when the ball is in the air, allowing the other team to get it as often as they are. And when we shoot it, we need our shots to be more predictable, so we have a chance to get it at a higher rate.”

Maryland’s offense would look sloppy throughout the first half. They ended with seven turnovers while shooting 1-for-4 on layups. Most of their points came from midrange jumpers or the three-point line, but they finished the first half with only two assists.

The Boilermakers would also find success in the paint offensively, scoring 12 points in the paint on high efficiency, shooting 4-for-6 on layups, and getting to the FT line for 10 shots.

Purdue would take a 49-28 lead into the half after completely outclassing the Terps across the board.

The Terps would enter the second half with a lot more aggression on offense. Their first three shots out of the break came at the rim, after only taking five shots at the rim in the first half.

That would continue for the Terps in the second half as they ended with 15 layup attempts and 17 free throws.

Despite the shots at the rim, the offense was less inefficient in the second half, as the length of the Purdue frontcourt made it difficult for the Terps. The Terps were 10-for-28 (35.7%) from the field in the second half compared to 9-for-21 (42.9%) in the first half.

Purdue wouldn’t miss a beat offensively to start the second half. Loyer and Smith continued their hot streak, scoring 13 combined points, which helped extend the lead to 71-43, where they would take out their starters and start to coast.

Loyer ended the game with 29 points and 3 assists while shooting 9-for-14 from the field and 7-for-10 from three in only 27 minutes. Smith finished the game with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting and six assists. Purdue ended the game with 15-for-30 from three.

“The effort was fine. The weak side coverage was what was not good enough from an execution standpoint,” Williams said on the perimeter defense.

Freshmen Andre Mills and Darius Adams were the two bright spots for the Terps. Mills finished the game with 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting, along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Adams finished with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting and 6 rebounds. The two freshmen also combined to go 9-for-12 from the free-throw line.

“We need to figure out a way to skew our points per possession. Those two guys can do it by getting the defense in rotation,” said Williams.

“Those two guys are hungry to learn. I don't think that most freshmen are as accepting of where they are and what they need.”

Maryland will now have a four-day break before playing against Ohio State at home on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

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