Trailing by as much as 17 in the second half and double digits most of the game, No. 9 Maryland (23-5, 13-4 Big Ten) stunned Minnesota (13-14, 7-10) in Minneapolis Feb. 26 with a 74-73 victory that was capped off by a game-winning shot in the final seconds by Terps’ junior guard Darryl Morsell.
Morsell and his teammates had no answers for the Golden Gophers most of the game, but the Baltimore native completed a 10-2 Maryland run to end the contest by hitting a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left on the clock that gave the Terps’ their first lead since the score was 4-3.
Maryland’s hero on the night finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Morsell was one of five Terps to score in double figures, joining sophomore forward Jalen “Stix” Smith (16), sophomore wing Aaron Wiggins (16), freshman forward Donta Scott (11), and senior point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. (10).
With its best two players — Cowan and Smith — in foul trouble for the second straight game, Maryland struggled for most of the night.
Smith picked up two fouls in the first four minutes and after subsequently sitting for much of the first half came back into the game only to be hit with his third foul 22 seconds into being on the floor. However, Smith would only pick up one more foul throughout the rest of the game and finished with his 18th double-double of the season by adding a game-high 12 rebounds to his 16 points.
Cowan also picked up two fouls relatively early in the first half, including a questionable technical for the second straight game, and finished with four fouls total. The senior couldn’t get his shot to fall all night, shooting 2-for-15 from the field and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Cowan was, however, 6-for-6 from the free throw line and dished out nine assists to just one turnover.
When Maryland needed a big shot, other than the last one by Morsell, it seemingly always came from Wiggins in this game. The sophomore followed up his career-high 20-point performance in Maryland’s last outing against Ohio State with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting Wednesday night. Wiggins also was a force to be reckoned with defensively, swiping three steals and swatting two blocks.
Scott was another catalyst for Maryland’s comeback bid in the second half. The freshman scored nine of his 11 points after halftime and also added seven rebounds to his totals.
Despite an impressive ending and a much better showing in the second half than in the first, Maryland was outplayed for much of the game and only led for 24 seconds total in this contest.
The Terps couldn’t stop Golden Gophers’ sophomore center and leading scorer, Daniel Oturu, who finished with a game-high 28 points (10-for-13 shooting) and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Minnesota sophomore guard Marcus Carr also had a stellar night against the Terps, netting 19 points and dishing out seven assists. Although, his night as a distributor was not as efficient as Cowan’s, as he turned the ball over five times.
The Golden Gophers went into halftime 7-for-13 from beyond the arc but were held to 3-for-11 the rest of the way as the Terps tightened up on defense.
Despite shooting just 38 percent as a team, Maryland found a way to get the job done by dominating in the paint. The Terps outrebounded the Golden Gophers 45-36 and outscored them in the post 36-24.
Maryland also made the most of its athleticism and the 12 turnovers it forced, outscoring Minnesota 16-4 in fast-break points.
Endings to games don’t get much more exciting than that of Wednesday night’s matchup between the Terps and Golden Gophers. Maryland will look to carry its momentum over into a ESPN College GameDay meeting in College Park with Michigan State Feb. 29.
