On a night where Maryland paid tribute to Len Bias in front of 15,988 fans inside the Xfinity center, Maryland squandered another game at home as Virginia Tech pulled out a 62-58 win.
Maryland led by as much as seven with just under 12 minutes left but saw the offense go ice cold as a visibly frustrated Mark Turgeon reflected on a frustrating performance from his team. “Obviously we're disappointed. This was a special night, Lenny Bias tonight, College Hall of Fame,” Turgeon said after the loss. “We honored him, seeing all the 34s out there was great. We wanted to win for him, we wanted to play great for him and we weren't able to do it so we're disappointed with that.”
Maryland held a four-point lead with just over eight minutes to go after Julian Reese converted an and-one opportunity, but the bucket would prove to be a pivotal moment in a game that Virginia Tech quickly regained control of. Maryland would go on to score just two field goals over the final eight minutes as fans watched the Hokies walk out of the Xfinity Center with a win.
Reese’s free-throw at the eight-minute mark pushed Maryland’s lead to 46-42, but the Hokies would respond with a driving layup from Keve Aluma. Aluma scored the game’s next points to tie the game at 46 before a three from Nahiem Alleyne gave the Hokies a lead they’d never relinquish.
“We're up 43-46 and we just, we couldn't score. And you know, [Qudus Wahab] was sitting on the bench a lot. We were better offensively when he was in the game, he got in foul trouble and so it's tough. So we just talked to the guys about sticking together and got to figure out a way, we had leads in the last two games. Great home crowd, student section was terrific and we weren't able to get it done.”
Maryland center Qudus Wahab settled into the game instantly as he finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, but foul trouble limited his efficiency over 40 minutes. After Wahab picked up his third foul just five minutes into the second half, Turgeon sent his big man to the bench in hopes of preserving him for the end. Five minutes later, Wahab found himself back onto the court but a fourth personal foul with just under nine minutes left sent him back to the bench. The Hokies would take a 49-47 lead on the next play after Wahab checked in as the Terps found themselves in the danger zone.
“We're still not great but we outrebounded them and we're better in the second half. It's always something right? So we had 15 turnovers against a team that doesn't pressure.”
Still, Maryland found themselves with one final chance on the Terps’ final possession of the game. After the Hokies took a three-point lead with 30 seconds remaining, Turgeon called a timeout to set his halfcourt offense up once more but Hart’s first and only three-point attempt would come up short.
“We're not making a lot of shots. Hakim made six or five or six down in the Bahamas. They're not gonna let Eric [Ayala] get a shot so he was wide open. He also had to lay up so we're like, okay if you can't, go in and take a quick two then we'll try to foul and you know, maybe they miss the front end of a one-on-one, we can come down and win the game. So yeah, I mean, it was wide open I thought. So we said quick three or quick two, he thought he was open. He shot it, it is what it is, you know.”
As Maryland fell to 5-3 on the season, mounting frustration was on full display inside the Xfinity Center. Even during pregame introductions, Turgeon was met with growing boos from the fans. Some Maryland students began chanting ‘done with Turgeon’ following Hart’s miss, while fans directed more frustration towards Turgeon and the players as they walked into the tunnel. Maryland will look to bounce back in this weekend’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern, but the frustration continues to grow through the early stage of the regular season.
“We're all frustrated because our standard here is high at Maryland and the expectations were high coming into the season but we're still getting used to playing with each other and we're better in a lot of phases but we're not good enough to beat good teams. So we're all frustrated. We're up 43-46 and we just, we couldn't score. And you know, [Qudus Wahab] was sitting on the bench a lot. We were better offensively when he was in the game, he got in foul trouble and so it's tough.”