Terps can’t hang
Jahmir Young’s game-high 26 points not enough in defeat
COLLEGE PARK — Maryland men’s basketball’s good fortune against Purdue ran out.
After stringing together four straight wins against the Boilermakers, including a 14-point upset 11 months ago, the host Terps were treated to life on the other side of the equation in a 67-53 humbling by top-ranked Purdue Tuesday night before an announced 14,314 at Xfinity Center.
In the last meeting between the Big Ten rivals, Maryland used a 29-4 run on Feb. 16 to forge a 68-54 upset of the Boilermakers, who had been ranked No. 3 at the time. A pivotal figure in that game was point guard Jahmir Young, who racked up a game-high 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 35 minutes.
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Young, a fifth-year senior point guard who sat out the Terps’ 75-53 rout of Coppin State on Thursday night because of a bout with the flu, scored a game-best 26 points on 12 of 23 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. But he rued the team’s setback.
“Purdue made it tough for me,” he said after missing five straight days because of his illness. “Obviously, I struggled early. It’s really just my teammates putting me in position to be successful. It’s not really about points or any type of accolades or stats. I’m really trying to win. So my 26 points meant nothing to me.”
Although Purdue fell short of extending its streak of 80-point games to eight, it had more than enough to dispose of the Terps. Zach Edey, a 7-foot-4 senior center, ended a personal-worst four-game streak without a double-double by amassing 23 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. Six of his first eight points came from dunks.
“We fared just like everyone else has this year: not well,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said of trying to limit Edey. “He’s much more improved. I think his conditioning has improved this year. He’s going over both shoulders a little bit better, and he’s a willing passer. So with that body, that skill, those hands, and four guys that can shoot around him, he’s tough to guard.”
Edey got some help. Sophomore point guard Braden Smith compiled 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, fifth-year senior shooting guard Lance Jones scored all 11 of his points on 4 of 7 shooting in the second half after misfiring on six attempts in the first half, and sophomore shooting guard Fletcher Loyer chipped in nine points and three rebounds.
The same could not be said for Young. Senior small forward Jordan Geronimo added nine points and six rebounds, and fifth-year senior small forward Donta Scott contributed eight points, seven rebounds and three steals, but no other Maryland player finished with more than six points.
Outside of Young, the offense shot a combined 9 of 40 (22.5%). From behind the 3-point arc, the team converted 5 of 22 attempts (22.7%).
“I would say it was just us,” Scott said. “We had a lot of good looks but missed a lot of open ones, missed a couple bunnies. I think that led to their offense. Once that happens and you’ve got someone like Edey, it’s hard to go on a run when you’ve got to guard somebody like that. Big guy, talented player, talented team. When you don’t make shots, they make you pay for it.”
Tasked with guarding Edey, who is 6 inches taller and 70 pounds heavier, junior power forward Julian Reese, a Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate, was held scoreless on 0 of 4 shooting although he did pull down seven rebounds. It marked his first zero-point showing since March 10, 2022, when he was shut out and had three rebounds in a loss to Michigan State.
Tuesday night’s setback ended several streaks for Maryland (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten), which had won five straight and its past 14 home Big Ten games. More importantly, the team’s 19-game winning streak at Xfinity Center came to a halt, ending a run that had been tied with Louisiana and Marquette for the third-longest active streak among Division I programs.
What did continue was the Terps’ difficulty against top-ranked opponents. They fell to the No. 1 team in the country for the sixth game in a row since toppling North Carolina, 82-80, on Jan. 19, 2008.
Tuesday night’s visit by the Boilermakers marked the first by the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll since Jan. 21, 2004, when Duke escaped with a 68-60 victory. Maryland, which last defeated a top-ranked opponent at home on Jan. 18, 2003, when it upended the Blue Devils, 87-72, dropped to 7-8 in College Park against top-ranked opponents.
Purdue (13-1, 2-1) vanquished a personal demon of its own, winning at Xfinity Center for the first time since an 80-75 decision on Dec. 1, 2017 — a stretch of five games. Until Tuesday night, the Boilermakers had not scored more than 60 points in four previous visits.
Purdue started strong, scoring the first eight points and forcing Willard to use a timeout before the game was even four minutes old. After Maryland sandwiched an Edey dunk with two free throws from Geronimo and a hook shot by Scott, the Boilermakers scored six straight points for their first of three 12-point advantages in the first half.
When the Terps engineered a minor comeback to pull within 19-12 midway through the period, Purdue responded with a 9-2 run aided by Maryland slipping into a 3:09 drought exacerbated by three turnovers.
Purdue capitalized on the amount of defensive attention the Terps were forced to pay to Edey. When the ball found its way to Edey on the interior, he either took the ball to the rim or found his teammates on the perimeter for open shots.
The Boilermakers finished with 16 assists on 25 baskets — a point of emphasis by coach Matt Painter.
“Ball movement is so important,” he said. “The way they do things, if you think too much, you can get stagnant and stand, and that’s what we wanted with him [Edey], and that’s why he was in there. We wanted to move that basketball and then get it inside or drive it.”
The game was a hot ticket. Former Terps basketball coach Gary Williams, former small forward Keith Booth (Dunbar), football coach Mike Locksley, men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski, ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt and Golf Channel broadcaster Steve Sands attended the game.