PISCATAWAY, N.J. — With a share of the Big Ten regular-season title on the line, No. 9 Maryland (23-7, 13-6) fell flat at Rutgers (19-11, 10-9) and left Piscataway with a 78-67 loss.

“I think you have to give a lot of credit to Rutgers,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said. “I thought they were terrific. There’s a reason they’re 18-1 in this building because they’re terrific in this building. They seem fresh and loose and having fun. I think they had six days to prepare for this one and it looked that way. So give them credit.”

With back-to-back losses now to Michigan State and Rutgers and having lost three of its last four, Maryland has one last chance against Michigan in its season finale on Sunday to secure a share of the Big Ten championship.

“We don’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Turgeon said. “We know where we are. We didn’t go 23-5 without being a really good basketball team, playing a top-10 schedule in the country. The last 72 hours just hasn’t gone very well. I love my team. We’re going to bounce back. We just didn’t have it tonight. We give Rutgers all the credit.”

The Scarlet Knights took advantage of their senior night and played relentless defense in front of a packed, sold out crowd at The RAC. Rutgers held Maryland to just 38 percent shooting from the field and 6-for-32 from beyond the arc. Senior point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. hit three of those shots from deep, his second three-point attempt of the game went down to end an 0-for-12 slump and break a tie with Mike Jones for third all-time on Maryland’s three-pointers made list.

“They were there. We were open. We just didn’t hit,” Cowan said. “We have to go back to the drawing board.”

Failing to take advantage of the Scarlet Knights’ aggressive defense, the Terps settled for outside shots throughout the game and only got to the free throw line six times in the first half and 15 times total.

But after the game, Turgeon chalked up the offensive game plan to the way Rutgers guarded the Terps.

“That’s the way they were guarding us,” Turgeon said. “I thought they were going to pressure us and they were just back in the lane.”

Rutgers also outperformed Maryland on the boards, winning the rebound margin 42-37.

“We have to start attacking the boards more,” sophomore forward Jalen “Stix” Smith said. “We’ve lost that mentality of trying to grab every rebound off the backboard. We just have to figure out a way to box out more and start grabbing them both offensively and defensively.”

The difference in each team’s depth showed on Tuesday night. The Terps received just 15 bench points to Rutgers’ 30. Junior guard Jacob Young was the biggest catalyst off the bench for the Scarlet Knights, scoring a team-high 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including 11 in the first half.

Besides Young, Rutgers finished with two other double-digit scorers — sophomore guard Montez Mathis (15) and junior guard Geo Baker (11).

Mathis, a Baltimore native that played at Bel Air (Md. ) John Carroll, was particularly effective in the second half, scoring nine of his 15 points after halftime.

“Me and Montez were close growing up, playing in high school against each other and playing in AAU against each other. He’s a great player, athletic. He’s pretty much the slasher and shooter Rutgers needs,” Smith said.

Maryland led for less than a minute of game time and let a six-point halftime lead for Rutgers grow to as much as 21 in the second half.

With Maryland down nine four minutes into the second half, the game took a turning point, as Smith missed a layup and Cowan missed a three-pointer on ensuing possessions. Instead of cutting the lead to four, Rutgers took a 14-point lead and never looked back.

“So then the game gets away from us and we lose confidence quick during that stretch,” Turgeon said.

But the only Terps to do any damage on offense for Maryland overall were Cowan and Smith, who scored 19 and 16 points, respectively. Smith also grabbed 10 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season.

Maryland’s role players couldn’t find their shot on the road. Sophomores Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins along with freshmen Donta Scott and Hakim Hart combined to shoot 2-for-16 from three. Junior guard Darryl Morsell missed his lone three-point attempt and finished with nine points.

For the second straight game, Maryland has allowed 78 points — its second-highest allowed of the season. The Terps have allowed an average of 77 points to their opponents in their last four games.

“We’re not guarding. We haven’t been guarding,” Turgeon said. “We guarded the last 10 minutes of the Minnesota game and we really haven’t guarded for three and a half games. So we have between now and Sunday to figure it out. We have a little practice time and we haven’t had a lot of practice time here in the last 10 days.”

Maryland will head back to College Park to conclude the regular season on Sunday against Michigan. A win will give the Terps at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

“The building is going to be electric on Sunday. It’s Anthony Cowan’s Senior Day. It’s going to be sold out. We’ll be fresh. We’ll get some rest,” Turgeon said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to go get it. We have to get back to what our identity needs to be.”