Rutgers men's basketball loses to Maryland in 2nd home loss of season
The Rutgers men’s basketball team suffered a 68-60 defeat to Maryland yesterday night. With the loss, the Scarlet Knights (11-8, 5-4) are now dangerously behind in their chase to make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
After taking an 8-7 lead for their first lead of the game, the Terrapins (11-9, 3-6) embarked on a 27-8 run which left Rutgers with a 20 point deficit with 4 minutes remaining in the first half. The Knights would chip away at Maryland's lead from that point on, ending the half with a three-pointer from senior guard Caleb McConnell.
McConnell’s three-pointer cut the deficit to 38-26 at halftime.
In the second half, the Knights had several opportunities to drop the lead to single-digits but were repelled by the Terrapins until it was ultimately too late. The closest Rutgers would get to Maryland would be 7 points in the game’s waning seconds.
“We struggled at the beginning. You can’t spot a really good team 20 points in the first half. Mayland, you have to give them credit,” said head coach Steve Pikiell after the game. “Our keys to this game were rebounding, and (Fatts Russell) and (Eric Ayala) ... obviously both those guys had great nights. We just have to play better against a team that can shoot the ball that well.”
The Knights were led by dual 16-point performances from senior guards Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. while sophomore center Clifford Omoruyi once again led on the boards, grabbing 13 rebounds to go along with 11 points in the loss. The performance from Omoruyi represents his fourth double-double of the season.
McConnell also reached double-figures with 11 points of his own while junior guard Paul Mulcahy tallied up a game-high seven assists.
“I told the guys at halftime that we just played them a week and a half ago, so they’re going to know all of our sets and know exactly what we’re doing, our calls,” said Harper after the loss. “So it was just different because they knew everything that we were going to do, and we obviously didn’t respond well.”
As mentioned before, the Terrapins had huge performances from Russell and Ayala in the win. Russell set a season-high with 23 points and despite entering the game only averaging 27.5 percent from three, hit five three-pointers and 62.5 percent of his shots from that distance.
Ayala finished with 22 points and drilled five three-pointers of his own. When it was all said and done, Russell and Ayala combined for 45 of Maryland’s 68 points on a combined 51.7 percent shooting and 58.8 percent three-point shooting.
As a team, Rutgers finished shooting 34.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from long distance. On the other hand, the Terrapins hit 45.3 percent of their shots and nailed 48 percent of their three-pointers. The Knights won the rebounding battle 39-37.
Rutgers will now hit the road to face Nebraska on Saturday. It is the first of two straight road games for the program before it returns home to face No. 10 Michigan State on Feb. 5. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“I’ve been through it all. I’ve seen 14-17 seasons, I’ve seen 20-11, I’ve seen last year going to the NCAA Tournament, so I’m not really worried,” Harper said. “My message to (the younger guys) is to just keep fighting, keep playing, never have your head down. There’s a lot of opportunities, one game at a time.”
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