Terps Recap: Maryland 86, Michigan 82
Maryland had been ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation this season but entered Sunday with two losses in a row for the first time this season.
So was Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon desperate going into Sunday's home game with Michigan?
"I just think we wanted to play well. We wanted to get back to being us. Were we desperate? I don't think so," Turgeon said after No. 6 Maryland held on to beat the Wolverines 86-82 after leading by 16 points in the first half. "A lot of coaches would love to be 23-5."
Turgeon, in his fifth season, said he did not deviate from a regular practice after the Terps lost Thursday at Minnesota, which won its first conference contest of the year.
"I am not a big talker. I have not talked to this team as much," Turgeon said. "We really worked on not turning the ball over. That is what we worked on in practice."
Forward Robert Carter Jr. scored 17 points and forward Jake Layman added 16 as each scored 10 points in the second half. Layman, a senior, was 5 of 6 from the field and his team was 17 of 19 from the line while making 18 turnovers.
"I thought Jake was terrific," Turgeon said.
Layman hit a pair of 3-pointers midway through the second half to give the Terps a lead of 66-58 after Michigan (19-9, 9-6 Big Ten) had led 56-55 on two free throws by forward Mark Donnal, who had a game-high 25 points.
The Terps won on a day that sophomore point guard Melo Trimble had seven turnovers with just one assist while scoring 14 points with eight rebounds, while making 7 of 8 from the field.
"Maryland was just better than us in too many plays to get the victory," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "We battled back and again in the second half. We just didn't have enough to get it done. Things didn't go our way a couple of times."
Carter gave the Terps a lead of 76-75 on a basket with 4:48 remaining. Carter had another basket and Layman made two free throws to build the margin to 80-75. Carter scored again to make it 82-78 with 2:20 to go.
Michigan had a chance to tie in the closing seconds but guard Derrick Walton Jr. was called for an offensive foul with 18 seconds left to give Maryland the ball.
Maryland guard Rasheed Sulaimon made two free throws with 15.6 seconds left to build the lead to 84-79. After a 3-pointer by Michigan forward Duncan Robinson with 6.9 seconds left trimmed the margin to 84-82, the Terps held on for the win as Trimble made two free throws with 5.5 seconds to go.
Michigan sophomore Kameron Chatman came off the bench to hit two big 3-pointers and he had six points in just eight minutes. Guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 16 points for Michigan, Walton had 14, forward Zak Irvin had 11 and Robinson had 10 points and nine rebounds as all five started scored in double figures.
"I think it just started with our defense," Chatman said of the comeback. "We just blocked out on defense and got out in transition. At the end of the day they were just focused. There were a couple of plays that didn't go our way."
With the win, Maryland improves to 23-5 overall and 11-4 in the conference. The Terps, who led by five at halftime, began the day in third place in the Big Ten behind Indiana and Iowa.
Freshman center Diamond Stone was suspended by Turgeon and did not play in the loss at Minnesota on Thursday. Stone made four of his first seven shots from the field and had 10 points in the first half and 13 overall.
Michigan took the lead at 51-50 on a basket by Irvin with early in the second half. The Wolverines led 73-72 with 6:34 left but could not hold on.
"They have a really good team," Beilein said of Maryland. "They represent us well (in the conference). We have a quick turnaround with Northwestern on Wednesday. We can't mope about this. We have to learn from it."