Boilers Let Lead Slip Away in Final Minutes, Fall to Maryland 61-60
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Purdue's trip to Maryland started out scary and ended even worse on Tuesday night. The Boilermakers let a late seven-point lead disappear and couldn't finish down the stretch, losing 61-60 to the Terrapins in the Xfinity Center.
It was the first game as a ranked team for Purdue in more than a year and a half, and they played well enough to win for most of the game. Junior center Trevion Williams was his usual dominant self, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, earning his fifth double-double in the past six games and eighth on the season.
But the No. 24-ranked Boilers couldn't finish down the stretch, and let one slip away.
“You feel like a million bucks when you make one more play and you feel awful when they make one more play than you,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter, whose Boiler fell to 12-7 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten with their third straight loss in College Park. “That’s what it came down to.”
It certainly did, which isn't so rare in a one-point game. One little change on one single possession could have changed the outcome.
Purdue didn't play particularly well in the first half, committing 11 turnovers, but the defense effort was there and it still went to halftime with a 27-24 lead. They built the lead to seven early in the second half, but then Maryland got hot from three and got right back into the game. They made eight three-pointers in the second half after going just 1-for-12 in the first half.
Purdue still led by seven with 3:45 to go when Williams dunked after a nice interior pass from freshman Jaden Ivey to make it 56-49 and they were still up 6-55 with 1:43 to go when Ivey made two free throws.
But then it all fell apart from there.
Maryland's Danny Morsell made a three-pointer on their next possession to cut it to 60-58. Ivey got a good look at a three-pointer on the other end but missed, and Maryland's Aaron Wiggins got the rebound. Junior guard Eric Ayala was fouled on a drive on the other end and made the first free throw, but then missed the second that could have tied it. It was his only miss (5-for-6) from the line all night.
Purdue wound the shot clock down, and Ivey drove to the basket. He was triple-teams in the lane, but put up a short jumper anyway, and it rolled off. After a timeout, Ayala drove the lane and missed a shot, but was fouled after an offensive rebound, He made both free throws with 3.7 seconds left to go, and Williams' desperation heave from half-court was short..
“This is a tough one,” said Ivey, who finished with xx points. He and Williams combined to score 26 of Purdue's 33 second-half points. “Just recently ranked and playing a good team in Maryland and trying to get that big road win, this one hurts. Sometimes you lose games and that’s what basketball about. This one is on us.”
It was just another slugfest in the Big Ten, where winning is hard no matter who the opponent is or when the game is played.
“We have to be steady, be solid and take what they were giving us,” Purdue sophomore guard Isaiah Thompson said. “We put ourselves in a position to win at the end of the day. Some shots didn’t go our way and we didn’t get enough stops. We’ve got to move on and get ready for Saturday.”
Purdue gets back at it against Northwestern on Saturday, a 4:30 p.m. ET start in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers are hoping to have Sasha Stefanovic back after missing 17 days because of a positive COVID-19 test. They miss his perimeter shooting.
Purdue was able to make just 4-of-17 three-pointers against Maryland, and in Stefanovic's three-game absence, they've really had just one good shooting half, the second in the win over Minnesota last Saturday. In the other five halves, they shot just 6-for-34 from long range, just 17.6 percent.
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