COLLEGE PARK, Md. —Rutgers was cruising toward one of its biggest wins of the season, crushing Maryland by as much as 20 points during a dominant first half.
Then the Scarlet Knights underwent one of the biggest meltdowns in program history, blowing a 19-point halftime lead to put itself in position for one of its worst-ever losses.
But head coach Steve Pikiell’s team got straightened out in time to avoid disaster, outscoring the Terrapins 23-17 in the final 11 minutes at the XFinity Center to earn a 69-65 win on Sunday afternoon.
The result marks a major step toward Rutgers (12-17, 5-13) earning a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, which it could secure with a win in either of its final two games of the regular season (at Michigan State, vs. Penn State) this week.
“It’s always tough at this time of the year when you haven’t had the season that you want to keep the guys focused on what’s important, and what’simportant is coming down to Maryland to play a really good basketball team,” Pikiell said. “We did that for 20 minutes (then) had enough at the end, gutted it out, got the free throws, got some stops. So real proud of our team. Hasn’t been one of those years, and when you’re fighting the phones and you’re fighting all the things that these players have to fight, with all the options they have coming up, you got to get them focused. And I think we did a great job.”
The Scarlet Knights (11-18, 4-14) were eviscerated on the boards, conceding 16 offensive rebounds on 36 missed shots, leading to 12 second-chance points. They made up for it on the other end by forcing 19 turnovers, which led directly to 18 points, and going 19-of-23 from the free throw line, hitting 9 of their 10 attempts from the stripe.
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Rutgers was led by guards Tariq Francis (19 points on 4-of-11 shooting, four rebounds, four assists) and Jamichael Davis (12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, three steals), as well as forward Darren Buchanan (14 points on 6-of-15 shooting, seven rebounds).
Rutgers was dominant out of the gates, outscoring Maryland 39-20 in the opening 20 minutes behind an elite defensive showing. It forced 14 turnovers from which it scored 14 points, held the Terrapins (11-18, 4-14) to 32.1% shooting, and despite conceding 10 offensive rebounds on 19 missed shots, the Scarlet Knights only gave up 2 second-chance points.
On the other end, the Scarlet Knights were an efficient 45.2% from the field, taking 26 of their 31 shots from beyond the arc (3-of-10) or at the rim (9-of-16).
Then everything flipped after the break.
Maryland opened the second half on a 28-8 run, turning a 19-point halftime deficit into a 1-point lead with 11:26 to play. As Rutgers missed seven of its first nine field goal attempts, the Terrapins hit five of their first nine while getting to the free throw line eight times in the first nine minutes of the second half.
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A key play in that stretch came when center Emmanuel Ogbole was whistled for a flagrant 1 foul as Maryland hit a three-pointer, leading to a 5-point play that turned the tide.
After a three-minute stretch in which neither team scored, Rutgers retook the lead with 7:58 to play and never fell behind again. It built a 6-point lead with 3:30 to play, and while Maryland twice brought itself within 2 points, the Scarlet Knights held on.
“You got to play 40 minutes,” Pikiell said. “I try to tell our guys that halftime doesn’t mean the game’s over. Halftime just means the battle has just begun and the other team is ready to go. Our defense was great in the first half and the second half not so great. It’s been kind of the tale of our season. But it was great down the stretch when we needed some stops and I was real proud of our guys for that.”
Rutgers returns to action on Thursday, when it faces No. 13 Michigan State at the Breslin Center, where it has never won (0-8 since joining the Big Ten). It then closes its regular season on Sunday against Penn State in Piscataway.
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