With Maryland men’s basketball finding itself trailing No. 12 Gonzaga by 21 points midway through the first half, the Terps opted to push the tempo in search of a spark.
Andre Mills drove into the paint, absorbing heavy contact while launching a layup attempt. that didn’t even touch the shooter’s square of the backboard. Mills ended up on his backside, and the ball bounced wide, past Collin Metcalf.
Somehow, though, the ball bounced off a Gonzaga arm, past Collin Metcalf — who opted not to jump for
the rebound — and right to Mills. The guard, lying just outside the restraining arc, grabbed the ball and fired a shot that somehow bounced in.
It was a fitting encapsulation of Maryland men’s basketball’s night that that putback from a player sitting on the court was the Terps’ easiest basket of the game. They were smothered by the Bulldogs, 100-61, in their second game of the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas.
Gonzaga’s pair of forwards, Graham Ike and Braden Huff, proved a difficult matchup for Maryland to compete with. The first of a team-leading nine baskets for the 6-foot-10 Huff came after defensive switches paired him with the significantly shorter Diggy Coit — who couldn’t come close to the ball.
But Maryland had as many issues stopping Gonzaga outside the arc as they did inside. The Bulldogs methodically picked Maryland apart, working through the interior and kicking the ball out to great effect — they made four of their first seven 3-point attempts and nine of their first 13 overall.
Maryland tried to get its offense going, but outside of Pharrel Payne — who scored six of the Terps’ first 11 points — Maryland’s offense struggled to create offense one-on-one. And when Payne picked up his second foul, the Terps found themselves unable to score for just under four minutes.
With Mills’ circus shot injecting life back into the Terps, Darius Adams baited a flagrant foul out of Graham Ike, expanding Maryland’s opportunity to get back in the game. The freshman made his free throws, and two more from Payne on the ensuing possession capped a seven-point run for the Terps.
Following a make from Tyon Grant-Foster, a midrange jump shot from Coit and two more free throws from Payne cut the lead to nine points with 2:45 remaining in the first half. That was the last time the Terps had the game within single digits.
Maryland swapped to an intense zone in moments, mixing up the defense to try to keep the Bulldogs guessing.
But the gap in quality became apparent entering the second half. Maryland made five of its first 10 attempts in the second half, but all they were doing was keeping pace — they couldn’t find a stop.
Across an 11:09 stretch spanning the first and second halves, the Bulldogs were a perfect 12-of-12 from the floor. The lead ballooned from 11 to 22 points; all the Terps had to play for was avoiding an ugly result.
In the end, however, things got ugly. The Terps scored just one field goal across a 6:45 stretch in the second half — that scoreless streak began just before Gonzaga’s scoring streak ended — compounding their misery.
Head coach Buzz Williams whirled through combinations on the floor, desperately trying to find a combination that could get the Terps’ offense going. Despite his efforts, Maryland was unable to string together positive possessions down the stretch.
Three things to know
1. Bench got bruised. While the Terps found quality production off the bench against UNLV, the same players were largely ineffective against Gonzaga. Maryland sorely missed George Turkson and Solomon Washington in the frontcourt, failing to match the abilities of Gonzaga’s bigs.
But the bench overall was poor. Isaiah Watts was the only non-starter to make a basket in the first half; Myles Rice had just one point. The bench score was 51-9 in favor of the Bulldogs.
2. Turnover troubles continue. “[Gonzaga will] score 100 in the first half if we turn it over 15 times in the first half,” Williams claimed at halftime of Maryland’s game against UNLV.
While he may have been being facetious, Maryland did end up with 18 total turnovers and allowed 100 points Tuesday. It turned the ball over nine times in each half.
3. Game three incoming. Maryland took to the court against Gonzaga almost exactly 19 hours after leaving it following the victory over UNLV. Now, the Terps have another night of sleep ahead before playing their final game of the tournament, with the matchup set to be finalized early Wednesday morning.
