With three seconds to go, Maryland men’s basketball inbounded the ball down three with a chance to send the game to overtime against No. 3 Purdue with a bucket after being down 14 at halftime.
The ball was not secured initially after the pass, but it found its way to Jahmir Young on the wing for a final shot, which bounced off the side of the backboard.
It was a big comeback for the Terps, but it was to no avail as they couldn’t stop Zach Edey from dominating with 24 points and 16 rebounds, as Purdue won 58-55.
The game was extremely close down the stretch, and the defense from both sides was persistent and energetic. Neither team scored a field goal in the final three minutes and 46 seconds of the game, as all points came off free throws. Purdue coach Matt Painter elected to foul Maryland on its second-to-last possession to stop the away team from potentially tying the game on a three.
At the end of the day, the Terps lost the game on the glass, as the size of Edey and the Boilermakers forwards was just too much down the stretch. Purdue out-rebounded Maryland 40-30, and came up with some clutch offensive rebounds down the stretch to help drain more time off of the clock.
For Maryland, sophomore forward Julian Reese had one of his best games of his career, giving Edey a lot of trouble inside. He finished with 19 points on 8-11 shooting from the field. Young started the game shooting 0-8 from the floor, but made some clutch buckets in the final ten minutes, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Senior guard Hakim Hart was a threat in the fastbreak, scoring multiple fastbreak buckets as he finished with 11 points, five rebounds and a steal.
From the start of the game, Edey imposed himself inside, which led to all types of problems for the Maryland big men. Both Reese and freshman forward Caelum Swanton-Rodger both notched two fouls within the first ten minutes of the game trying to guard the Purdue center in the post.
The Purdue offense came out of the gates rolling, going on multiple 7-0 scoring runs in the first eight minutes of the game, leading to a double-digit lead. Some timely shots from freshman guard Fletcher Loyer contributed to each of these runs, as the Boilermakers rolled through the Maryland defense early.
With the presence of the Boilermaker big men, Maryland needed some good outside shooting early to stop itselves going behind early. But the Terps couldn’t find any rhythm from long range, shooting 2-11 from three in the first half.
As the first half came to a close, Reese started to go at the body of Edey and score. He finished the half with nine points, cutting the lead to 12 inside a minute to go with a layup plus the foul. But the Boilermakers clapped back with a putback dunk from Edey with time expiring to give them a 35-21 lead going into the break.
Maryland had yet another good start to the second half in Big Ten play. The Terps started the half on a 7-0 run, including a pull up three from senior forward Donta Scott. This run cut the Purdue lead to single digits for the first time since the first few minutes of the game.
Purdue was struggling in possession in the second half, turning the ball over a good amount which led to some fast break points for the Terps. Young and Hart had multiple fastbreak buckets, including a dunk in the open floor by Hart to cut the lead to five with under eight minutes to go.
Even though Purdue flustered down the stretch, offensive execution in the fourth quarter gave the Boilermakers the win. Maryland is back on the court Wednesday at home against Wisconsin.
