Maryland succumbs to defeat against Purdue despite rallies in Big Ten opener
Feature photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.
After suffering their first loss against Syracuse in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Maryland Terrapins (6-3, 0-1) added another defeat to their books, losing their first Big Ten game Friday night against Purdue Boilermakers 80-75.
The Terps nearly charged back from multiple double-digit deficits, the largest being 14 points, to win the game.
Coming back from a 14-point deficit in the first half, Darryl Morsell goes up for the layup, shortening Maryland’s deficit to 39-43 within two minutes of the second half. Bruno Fernando forces a turnover on Vincent Edwards, which lands him a dunk. Hitting a 3-pointer, Kevin Huerter gives the Terps their first lead of the night with a score of 44-43.
Maryland had the lead for only a minute before a foul and a turnover by Fernando gave Purdue a chance to hit two free throws shots increasing the Boilermaker’s lead to 3. This spurred a 10-0 run, with Edwards leading the charge with eight points--along with the free throws, he had a 3-pointer and a layup-and two defensive rebounds.
With less than five minutes left in the game, Anthony Cowan puts up seven points for the Terps, forcing a turnover on sophomore guard Carsen Edwards down in the last minute. Cowan misses the jumper afterwards. With 15 seconds left in the game, Jared Nickens missed the 3-point shot, which led to a Purdue free throw ultimately sealing the game.
Nickens was shooting well from beyond the arc, 50 percent overall.
“I don't know what Jared [Nickens] is shooting on the year from three but he is shooting very well.” Huerter said after the game. “I told him after the game that ‘if we were to run that play again I would still have confidence in you to make it.’ I had no problem in the call and the execution that we had in the play.”
Both Darryl Morsell and Justin Jackson had troubling games. In a career-high 34 minutes, Morsell was 3-for-16 causing multiple turnovers for Maryland. In addition to being 0-for-4 beyond the arch, Morsell’s shot was blocked four times from center Issac Haas and forward Matt Haarms.
Morsell’s shots were not connecting due to lack of patience, causing the Terps a chance to get ahead resulting in a sub out from Coach Mark Turgeon.
“Yeah we’ve got a lot to learn,” Turgeon said. “We’ve just got to watch film and just keep coaching. We rushed a few shots out there; there was a few guys that rushed a few. Just got to keep coaching them and keep trying to get better and understand situations better.”
Jackson’s six offensive rebounds helped, but the sophomore struggled throughout the game only shooting 1-of-8 from the field for 5 points overall.
Guard Kevin Huerter did not match his previous game against Syracuse where he scored 23 points. Huerter, however had 19 points but three turnovers were costly for the Terps.
Maryland will play their first Big Ten road game against Illinois Sunday at the State Farm Center.