Rutgers Basketball Avoids Second Half Collapse, Earns Season Sweep Over Maryland
· Yahoo Sports
Rutgers men’s basketball earned their second win of the season over Maryland, 69-65, in a game where the Scarlet Knights saw their huge first-half lead disappear before they turned it on again late to secure the win.
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Lino Mark broke open the scoring with a three-pointer, with Darren Buchanan scoring the second basket of the game nearly two minutes later to put the Knights up five. The Terrapins would not get on the board until Darius Adams hit one free throw with 17 minutes left to play in the half. Rutgers would build their lead to four off a Jamicheal Davis fast-break layup, but a three-pointer from Maryland would shrink the deficit back to one. The Knights’ offense would find its footing over the next few minutes, in large part thanks to a pair of two-and-one plays, giving the Knights a 20-12 lead with 10 minutes left in the half. Davis would get another fast break layup to put Rutgers up 10 as Maryland had 6 turnovers in just under 11 minutes.
The Knights would continue to run up the score over the last 9 minutes of the first half, going up by as much as 20 points before the Terrapins shrunk the lead back down to 16. However, the first half magic for the Knights would not end there as Tariq Francis hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to put Rutgers up 39-20 as both teams headed towards the locker room. Maryland finished the first half with 14 total turnovers, which turned into 14 points for Rutgers.
The Terrapins’ Andre Mills would start the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer, which was followed by a second three-pointer from Maryland. The Terrapins would shrink the Knights’ lead to 8 with 15 minutes left to play in the game, partly in thanks to a flagrant foul that was called on Rutgers’ Emmanuel Ogbole. From there, the collapse was in full swing as Maryland would take the lead with just under 11 and a half minutes left to play in the game.
After blowing their huge first-half lead, the Knights would find a way to settle back in, holding a two-point lead with just under five minutes left to go in the half. A layup and a dunk by Dylan Grant would put Rutgers up six with 3 and a half minutes left to play in the game. Maryland would again shrink the Knights’ lead to two before Jamicheal Davis hit two consecutive free throws to put Rutgers up four with just under 30 seconds left in the game. From then on out, the Knights would win the free-throw battle to secure victory.
Some players to highlight for the Knights are Francis, Davis, and Buchanan. Francis led the way in scoring with 19 points, while hitting several key free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Davis finished the game third on the team in scoring with 12 points, but his late free throws proved pivotal to the game’s outcome. Buchanan was second on the team in scoring with 14 points, led the team in rebounds with 7, and provided crucial late free throws like Davis and Francis.
One stat where Rutgers dominated was the turnovers, as it finished the game with a +13 margin.
Mills, Solomon Washington, and Elijah Saunders had standout performances for Maryland, with Mills and Washington leading the team with 15 points, while Saunders picked up a double-double, recording 11 points and 14 rebounds.
One area where Maryland dominated the Knights was rebounding. The Terrapins scooped up 24 more rebounds than Rutgers.
With this win, Rutgers is one step closer to securing a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament, with remaining games at No.13 Michigan State and at home against Penn State.
Rutgers at Michigan State is set for an 8 pm tip on Thursday, March 5th. Live coverage for the game will be available on FS1.