No. 2 seed Maryland men’s basketball elimnated from Big Ten Tournament with 81-80 loss to No. 3 Michigan

Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics

All season long, it seemed that any game for No. 11 Maryland men’s basketball would end in one of two ways: a dominant win or a crushing loss in the final seconds. 

In the regular season, three of the Terps’ seven losses were due to shots that came in the waning seconds or ones that barely beat the buzzer. They would fall in that crushing fashion once more in the biggest game of the season to date.

After Derik Queen sunk two clutch free throws to take a one-point lead with five seconds remaining, Wolverines’ junior guard Tre Donaldson drove down the court, sinking a tough left-handed layup with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. 

The No. 2 seeded Terps (25-8, 14-7 Big Ten) fell to the No. 22 team in the country, the No. 3 seeded Michigan Wolverines (24-9, 15-6) in the Big Ten Tournament Semi-Finals, 81-80. 

The two teams were very familiar with one another – having played just 10 days prior in Ann Arbor. The result was a 71-65 Maryland victory, which came thanks to a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double for Derik Queen and a whopping 16 Michigan turnovers. 

Saturday’s game started much the same way, with the Terps forcing three early turnovers to take an early lead. At the end of the half, the Terps had forced nine turnovers.

However, a key difference between the first game and Saturday’s game was the paint play. Michigan’s frontcourt duo of junior Danny Wolf and graduate student Vladislav Goldin – who combined for 40 points and 23 rebounds on March 5 – dominated the paint on both ends. At the end of the first half, the Wolverines out-rebounded the Terps 27-12 and had scored 40 paint points. They had scored just 34 in the entire game in the first outing. 

The big men finished with a combined 45 points and 24 rebounds, while the Wolverines finished the game out-rebounding the Terps 47 to 18.

“Our guards have to do a much better job of helping rebound,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “Sometimes, when you play bigger teams, you need your guards to go in there and dig them out. I think that was the biggest challenge.” 

The Wolverines took a 38-34 lead into halftime after a poor showing from the Terps down the stretch. The same was true in the two minutes coming out of the locker room, as Michigan came out firing on all cylinders. They extended their lead to fifteen. 

“We didn’t finish the half out great, and we didn’t come into the second half great,” said Queen. “We let until the second media timeout to pick it up. It wasn’t too late, but we couldn’t rack up stops.”

The Terps wouldn’t go down without a fight though. They clawed their way back within eight, highlighted by a Ja’Kobi Gillespie tough three-pointer. 

Despite the Terps’ best efforts, the Wolverines continued to convert on their own end. With a little over 11 minutes remaining in the game, the Terps were down by 11 and were in desperate need of a run. 

The Terps got exactly what they needed. Channeling their motto of “Doubt Us”, the Terps scored 12 consecutive points while blanking the Wolverines to take a 62-61 lead with a little over eight minutes remaining in the game. 

The run was highlighted by Queen, who scored eight of the 12 points during the run. His run included a steal-turned three-point play and an impressive three-point shot from the top of the key. The freshman finished with a career-high 31 points, three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. The 31 points were the most by a Maryland freshman in any game since 2015, and the most points by any freshman in a Big Ten Tournament game since 2008. 

As the game winded down, the two teams continued to deliver blows to the other, either tying the game or taking a slight lead. When it got under the four-minute mark, the shots increased in intensity. Both sides would convert a massive shot or set of free throws, hoping one would be the knockout punch – just for the other to respond immediately. 

In classic Big Ten basketball fashion, it came down to the last play – a play that Maryland was on the wrong side of for the fourth time this season. 

“I’ll be honest, if I see another buzzer beater, I’d rather be playing tomorrow,” Willard said regarding the upcoming NCAA tournament. “It’s hard to win conference championships. When you have a chance, you gotta take advantage of every opportunity.” 

Despite the crushing loss, the Terps feel confident moving forward, given how close they made it despite poor showings in the rebounding and foul categories.

“We’re not satisfied, of course,” said Selton Miguel. “The main focus is staying together the whole time and just keep playing. It came down to the last play and we did everything we could to win the game.”

The Terps’ season trudges on. Tomorrow, they’ll find out what seed they get and where they are headed for March Madness, which begins next Thursday.