Jahmir Young laid prone on the Xfinity Center floor, his head buried in his clasped hands as the clock hit triple zeros. Several seconds earlier, his season-high seventh turnover clinched a road win for Michigan State after he lost the ball and failed to put up a final shot.
The Terps’ star point guard scored a game-high 19 points, his 11th time eclipsing that total this season, in his team’s 61-59 loss to the Spartans. As of Jan. 18, Young led all of college basketball with 24.8 points per game against quadrant one opponents on a scalding 58.4 percent true shooting.
And yet, it was Young who coughed up the ball on two crucial possessions in the final two minutes Sunday. It was Young who, despite all his offensive brilliance this season in carrying the load of Maryland men’s basketball’s otherwise poor offense, had the chance to win or send the game to overtime, and didn’t.
“You don’t want to call a timeout. You have a senior guard who you really depend on, who I have a lot of confidence in,” said coach Kevin Willard, who elected not to use his last timeout on the final possession. “That’s on me, that’s not at all on Jahmir. I should have called a timeout.”
Maryland has a closing problem. It is 0-5 in games decided by one possession. The Terps had an opportunity to tie the game or win it in four of those contests. If they had closed out those games, they would currently boast a 16-3 record and be at the top of the Big Ten picture.
“We’re hurting ourselves,” Willard said.
Maryland has yet to find a consistent scoring option outside of Young. In five games against top 50 quality opponents, Julian Reese has a 46 true shooting percentage and has converted on just 41.9 percent of his two pointers, according to BartTorvik. Donta Scott is shooting his highest percentage from the field and from three his since sophomore season, but hasn’t shown to be a go-to option late in games. DeShawn Harris-Smith has scored in double figures just two times since the start of December in a rocky freshman season.
The final possession of Sunday’s game was reflective of the Terps’ crunch time struggles. Young grabbed the rebound after a Tyson Walker missed jumper before racing down the floor. Upon crossing halfcourt, Young took two dribbles while quickly surveying his options.
Except for one problem. He had none.
Young was met by a fortress of four Spartan defenders, while Scott was the only other Terp who got down the floor, stationed on the far wing.
Everyone in the building knew who was taking the final shot, and Young had little time to make it work. He crossed the ball over to his left hand and was immediately stripped by Tre Holloman, the ball dribbling itself toward the sideline and out of reach as time expired.
Young’s turnover was one of 18 for Maryland against Michigan State, an encapsulation of the team’s larger issues offensively. Willard and Scott said after the game they knew the Spartans would clog up the driving lanes, forcing them to kick out to open shooters. But Maryland failed to drive the ball with its usual conviction, while Willard felt his team “overpenetrated” five or six times.
“At times we didn’t really think about it too much and thought that we were just gonna drive down there,” Scott said. ‘And it didn’t work out in our favor.”
Willard also pointed to the Terps’ inability to “get a stop” late in games. The coach tried to change the team’s defensive pick-and-roll strategy but said it didn’t work.
“I’ve made some bad play calls,” Willard said.
Maryland predicates its offense on forcing turnovers and running in transition, and its defense on making shots to set up its press. If the defense collapses in its biggest moments and the offense relies on the success of one player, neither of those tenets are possible.
