Maryland surges past No. 3 Purdue 68-54 behind second-half rally

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s KevinWillard walked away from a Thursday morning film session withlittle doubt his team would upend No. 3 Purdue less than 12 hourslater.

Then his Terrapins went out and proved the first-year coachprophetic, unleashing a dominant stretch in the middle of thesecond half to rally past the Boilermakers 68-54 and deal Purdueits second consecutive loss.

Students stormed the court --- and one even climbed onto abasket --- after Maryland earned its fourth victory of the seasonover a ranked team. Exactly 10 years earlier, fans rushed onto thesame court after Maryland beat then-No. 2 Duke.

“I knew we were going to win,” Willard said. “This was not asurprise to me. This is an unbelievable program. It’s one of thebest programs in the country. I thought it was important for thefanbase and it was important for the students to just understandwhat this program is really all about.”

Jahmir Young scored 20 points for the Terps (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten),who trailed 37-29 before erupting on a 29-4 burst to take control.Hakim Hart added 13 points for Maryland, which defeated a top-threeteam for the first time since toppling then-No. 3 Iowa 74-68 onJan. 28, 2016.

Maryland improved to 14-1 at home this season and continued itsresurgence after going 15-17 last season, the program’s firstlosing season since 1992-93.

“Like coach said in the locker room, ‘Just think of where youwere last year,’” said forward Julian Reese, who had 10 points andnine rebounds. “At this time last year, we had a bad record --- I’mnot exactly sure what it was --- and (now) it’s (18-8) and we justbeat a top-five team in the country. It’s definitely a confidencebooster, but we have to keep working.”

Zach Edey and Braden Smith both scored 18 points for Purdue(23-4, 12-4), which has lost three of four --- all on the road. TheBoilermakers were outrebounded 35-23 by the smaller Terps. It wastheir largest deficit on the glass all season and only the thirdtime they were beaten on the boards.

“We have to be tougher,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Youhave to come in here and win the possession battle. You have tohave more rebounds and fewer turnovers. Now you can start rightthere and work toward something. We didn’t do that. When you get onthe road and you have fewer possessions and now you don’t shootwell, oh that’s going to be a long night versus a qualityteam.”

The Boilermakers seemed headed for a bounce-back from Sunday’s64-58 loss at Northwestern when they took an eight-point lead inthe second half. But a possession after a basket by Young, Purdueforward Mason Gillis was called for a foul and then was assessed atechnical foul for arguing with official Doug Sirmons.

“It was definitely a momentum swing,” Young said. “We just triedto limit them to one shot and get out in transition. That’s when weplay our best ball.”

That effectively ignited a 10-0 spurt that prompted Painter tocall timeout. He tried to again stem the run when Hart hit a 3 tomake it 50-41 — a 21-4 spree at that point.

Maryland kept surging after the timeout, and by the time Hartmade another 3 with 7:15 remaining, the Terps were up 58-41 andPurdue faced its largest deficit of the season.

“It just seemed like they were living about eight feet from therim right in the middle, and they were just breaking us down offthe dribble,” Painter said.

The Terps eventually pushed the advantage to 18 and never sawtheir lead cut to single digits the rest of the night against ateam that was ranked No. 1 earlier this month.

BIG PICTURE

Purdue: The Boilermakers’ recent struggles have all come againstgood teams, but they haven’t been as sharp as they were duringtheir 22-1 start. There’s still time to sort things out before thepostseason, and Purdue should get a boost from playing three of itsfinal four regular-season games at home.

Maryland: The Terrapins improved to 8-0 in conference home gamesunder Willard. Maryland also avenged an earlier loss for the thirdtime this season; the Terps also split with Michigan andWisconsin.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Purdue fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after its loss at Northwesternon Sunday, and the Boilermakers seem likely to slip at least a fewmore spots next week.

UP NEXT

Purdue plays host to Ohio State on Sunday.

Maryland visits Nebraska on Sunday.