The Terps' road woes came to a crushing conclusion Sunday afternoon in University Park, as Maryland blew a late double-digit lead, falling to Penn State by a final score of 65-64.
Maryland (20-11, 11-9) was led by senior guard Jahmir Young, who finished with a game-high 26 points as well as a game-high eight rebounds. He was one of four Terps in double-figure scoring, along with big man Julian Reese (11 points), senior guard Don Carey (11 points) and junior guard Ian Martinez (11 points).
With the loss, the Terps finished the regular season 2-9 in road contests. They will now await to find out who they play Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Here are three takeaways from the Terps' loss to Penn State.
Terps blow big second-half lead
For a half, Maryland beat Penn State at their own game.
The Nittany Lions came into the season finale ranked in the top-10 in 3-point percentage, number of made threes per game and three-point attempts as a percentage of total field goal attempts.
For 20 minutes, the Terps took a page out of the Nittany Lions playbook, going 7-of-17 from beyond the arc while shooting 12-of-29 overall from the field. The Terps not only attempted more three-point shots than two-point shots, but they actually made more three-point attempts (7) than two-point attempts (5).
Ian Martinez came off the bench to shoot a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while Jahmir Young, Don Carey and Hakim Hart all also knocked down threes.
Throw in an 8-minute scoreless drought for Penn State and the Terps took a 13-point lead into the locker room, even after Jalen Pickett hit a desperation three in the final seconds of the opening half.
The Terps seemed to remain in control for much of the second half, building a 15-point lead on a Jahmir Young made three with 12:11 left to play. But Penn State would go on a 30-14 run the rest of the way, including a combined five made threes by seniors Myles Dread and Andrew Funk.
Penn State took their first lead of the second half on a Camryn Wynter layup with 43 seconds remaining. The Terps responded with a Julian Reese layup to take a 64-63 lead with 19 seconds left to play.
Maryland forced a tough three-point look by Seth Lundy in the closing seconds which clanked off the rim, but with four Terps seemingly in position to grab the rebound, it was Camren Wynter who came up with the ball and scored the winning basket in the final second.
In the second half, Penn State was 6-of-16 from deep, while the Terps were just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Philly duo struggles in return to Keystone State
A quick look at the box score shows that seniors Donta Scott and Hakim Hart struggled as they returned to their home state of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia duo shot a combined 1-of-10 from the field, scoring just 4 points, while Hart turned the ball over five times.
Scott, in particular, seemed to really struggle, rushing several shot attempts and getting lost at times defensively. You can point back to the first Penn State game as the start of Scott's offensive struggles, as he has failed to score in double figures in five of the Terps' past seven games, beginning with a 9-point performance in Maryland's home win over the Nittany Lions.
Big offensive performances by Carey and Martinez, who shot a combined 9-of-16 from the field for 22 points, helped offset the struggles by Hart and Scott, but it proved to not be enough.
Costly loss
With the loss at Penn State, the Terps now know they will play in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, although they still must wait to find out their exact seed and opponent.
With a win Sunday, the Terps would have been assured a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tourney on Friday, while also securing an extra day of rest. Now the Terps will have to win four games in four days if they want to be crowned Big Ten Tournament champions.