Saturday proved a tale of two halves as Maryland watched their double-digit slip away at home, falling to Rutgers 70-59 in front of a half-empty Xfinity Center.
“Second half we didn’t come out and finish the way we needed to,” head coach Danny Manning said afterwards. “Have to credit Rutgers. They’re a gritty team, they came out and made plays, made shots in the second half and we weren’t able to provide enough resistance to slow them down to give ourselves a chance to win a ballgame that we played well enough in the first half to give ourself a chance to win.”
Maryland avoided the slow start that plagued them all season, but it wasn’t a pretty start. The two teams combined to shoot just 2-of-10 to open the game, but Maryland guard Eric Ayla got the Terps going after consecutive triples before Hakim Hart punched in an and-one scoring play. It helped that the Terps’ defense stifled Rutgers’ halfcourt offense to force four turnovers through the first four minutes, a trend that’d continue through the opening twenty minutes.
Maryland’s offense was also aided by the Terps’ rebounding as freshman forward Julian Reese secured three offensive rebounds in the first six minutes of action in his first career start. Wahab would relieve Reese on the floor around the 14-minute mark with Maryland clinging to a 14-6 lead, but the Scarlet Knights assembled a quick 8-0 run and had a chance to take the lead after Aundre Hyatt drew contact on a made triple, leaving the game tied at 14 heading into the under-8 media timeout.
But once again, Maryland’s defense would prove to be the difference after seven different Terps registered at least one steal in the first half. Russell’s quickness and active hands helped break the tie, forcing a steal despite being behind the play and quickly finding Hart in transition for an easy layup. After Rutgers stormed back to reclaim their first lead of the day with a 21-20 advantage, Maryland once again leaned on a quick 10-0 scoring run to reclaim control of the game.
Hart’s quickness loomed large defensively in the first half, first forcing a steal on Rutgers’ first possession then again midway through the first half as he turned a steal into an easy layup for Hakim Hart. Rutgers took their first lead with eight minutes left in the first half after Harper Jr. knocked down a corner three, but Maryland turned in a 10-0 over the ensuing two minutes retake command of the game. Despite the Terps missing four of their last six shots in regulation, Maryland entered halftime with a 38-27 advantage.
But Saturday would fail to be the day where Maryland played a complete game, or as Manning says, from tip to horn. The Terps’ scoring struggles reemerged once more to open the half, scoreless for the first three-plus minutes before Ayala found Reese with a nifty pass before Reese poured in an impressive reverse layup.
Rutgers cut into Maryland’s lead to three before a triple from Hakim Hart doubled the narrow advantage, but Rutgers responded with their own 10-0 scoring run to retake control behind a 49-45 lead and prompting Maryland head coach Danny Manning to call a timeout. “We have to take advantage of those opportunities in the fast break setting,” Manning added. “They did a better job of handling that pressure in the second half.” Maryland once again responded with a three from Donta Scott then Eric Ayala to reclaim a two-point lead, but Rutgers answered right back with consecutive triples to push the Terps’ deficit back to 55-51.
The Terps struggled to contain Ron Harper Jr. and Paul Mulcahy as the two combined for 46 points on 16-of-24 shooting, including 31 points in the second half on 9-of-12 from the field.
But as the two teams combined for 30 turnovers on the day, ball security became an issue down the stretch as fans watched three consecutive turnovers by both teams coming out of the under-eight media timeout. With just over four minutes remaining, a stepback triple from Ron Harper gave Rutgers a four-point lead before a putback from Reese then jumper from Fatts tied the game at 55. It would be the closest that Maryland would get, though, as they made just three of their last eleven shots from the field to allow Rutgers to outscore the Terps 15-4 over the final 3:32 of regulation. Harper Jr. knocked down three of his five second-half threes in the final five minutes to ice the game as Maryland’s late-game execution cost them yet again.
Despite leading by as many as eleven on Saturday, Maryland fell to 9-8 (1-5) and will look to bounce back at Michigan next week. For veteran guard Eric Ayala, he wants his teammates to watch the game film—today.
“I feel like we did a great job guarding the ball in the first half, and we got some easy transition. Myself included, I feel like as players, we should watch the second half and coach is gonna have something ready for us when know we come back for practice, but you know, we should watch our own mistakes and see what we can be better at and where things took a turn.”