COLLEGE PARK — Nearly four weeks ago, Maryland put up the best defensive performance Purdue has had to face, holding the Boilermakers to a season-low in points. The Terrapins narrowly missed the upset, though, falling by three on the road Jan. 22.
This time, they did it again. And in the second half, the Terrapins made sure they didn’t miss.
Jahmir Young scored 20 points, Hakim Hart added 13, and Maryland shot an unconscious 63% in the second half, upsetting No. 3 Purdue 68-54 in front of a raucous, court-storming Xfinity Center crowd.
“It was definitely like a dream come true, something that you worked for all summer,” Young said. “We all just try to work hard, and you know, we live for moments like this, live for moments to be in front of the camera when the lights are on.”
The loss is the third straight for Purdue (23-4, 12-4 Big Ten) in College Park, where the Terrapins remain undefeated in conference play (7-0). Maryland (18-8, 9-6) improves to 14-1 at home, while extending its Big Ten home winning streak to 11.
“I think it’s important for the fan base. I thought it was important for the students to kind of just understand what this program is really all about,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said of the frenetic postgame scene.
The outcome, Maryland’s first win over a top-five ranked program in seven years, wasn’t a surprise to its leader.
“These guys didn’t want to get off the court. These guys wanted to keep practicing,” Willard said of the three days preparing for the Boilermakers. “They understand what we wanted to do. They just had a great attitude and three great days of practice. So I was like, man, we’re gonna win this game.”
Purdue freshman forward Braden Smith scored 18 points, while player-of-the-year candidate Zach Edey added 18 points and 8 rebounds, once again neutralized as in the schools’ first matchup by Maryland forward Julian Reese.
“You know, just … showing up for my team when they really need me against guys so highly touted and so highly looked at in the country,” Reese said of his 10 point, nine rebound performance. “I feel like if I do that, we’re gonna get the job done like we did today.”
The electric, deafening atmosphere from the start once again sucked an opponent into making some mistakes. Edey committed Purdue’s first two turnovers back-to-back: One a bad pass under double-team pressure, another when Hart swatted the ball out of his hands.
Hart would give Maryland its first lead, 9-8, converting an and-one opportunity after a Young steal. The Terrapins held the Boilermakers in check for the first 15:00. In a familiar scene, however, Maryland could not get shots to fall, starting 6-of-21 shooting before a Patrick Emilien three from the far corner — his first of the season — tied the score at 18.
“I thought we came out and we just played super fast on offense,” Willard said of his team’s early struggles. “And I thought, you know, sometimes it’s hard when you’re pressing and you’re getting after it. Sometimes it’s hard to transition too.”
Maryland trailed at halftime, 28-25. When play resumed, the Boilermakers began to exert their dominance. Smith continued his hot streak, scoring 5 points in the first minute, followed by back-to-back Edey layups to stretch the lead to eight, 37-29.
Willard called a timeout to slow the Boilermakers’ simmer.
“Sometimes this group just needs a little bit of a reset,” Willard said. “I think they were a little disappointed with the way they played offensively in the first half. And I just had to kind of get them to remember that, you know, we had played really good defensively and let’s just get back to that. And eventually — I knew eventually — we’d make some shots.”
It worked.
After Purdue forward Mason Gillis knocked Reese in the head, drawing both a personal foul and then a technical foul for complaining to an official, the Terrapins furiously stormed back.
Young made both technical shots, and while Edey missed two-straight layups, Reese converted three of his own. When the dust settled, the Terrapins had only their second lead of the game, 43-40.
“I feel like once we limited them to one shot and stopped letting them get easy ones and letting them get downhill, we was able to get out in transition, and that’s what really sparked our offense.”
The true uncorking of the energy of a second-straight sellout crowd came courtesy of Hart. The Philadelphian’s rainbow three in front of his own bench sent the crowd into its biggest frenzy of the night and the Boilermakers scratching their heads into a timeout, down 50-41.
“I mean we just couldn’t miss at that point,” Reese said, “and we just got it done.”
Maryland’s run would stretch to 29-4 — unheard of for a Terrapins team that has struggled for buckets multiple times in multiple games in a season — and Willard’s Terrapins had a signature victory.
“Ten months ago, we put we put a roster together in a month, month and a half,” Willard said. “And a lot of kids had to buy into what our vision was for this program. I knew where we would get … so that moment for me was really special.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.