Maryland squeezes into final
surprised.
“We tried to get Bryce Aiken,” Turgeon said, recalling recruiting him out of The Patrick School in Randolph, N.J. “It wasn’t like he wasn’t getting recruited at our level. Tommy’s just done a great job of recruiting.”
Harvard coach Tommy Amaker certainly likes his point guard.
“Bryce Aiken can score with the best of them,” Amaker said. “He had a pretty efficient offensive game here, but he can be better than that, certainly in other areas of quarterbacking our team and leading our team.”
Cowan was limited early because of the defensive pressure applied by Aiken and teammate Justin Bassey. Harvard limited Cowan to just four shots in the first half, with part of that due to him picking up his second foul early.
Maryland went scoreless for the first four minutes and 20 seconds of the game, committing five turnovers and missing each of its only two field goal attempts. Harvard’s tough, collapsing defense caused numerous early Maryland miscues.
The Terps turned the ball over 11 times before halftime. They made just four of their first 18 shots, and missed their first six 3-point attempts, ending the half 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
“I thought [Thursday] we had energy. Today we had nothing,” Turgeon said. “We didn’t share the ball enough. I just want our guys to play a little more unselfishly to start.
“It happened early and I knew early; wasn’t sure if we were going to change, honestly.”
Nonetheless, the fifthranked team in the country found a way to fight off the pesky Crimson.
Cowan came out of his shell, igniting a 12-2 run for the Terps that erased a 51-44 Harvard lead. Cowan had nine points during the spurt and it was just enough momentum to keep the Maryland undefeated.
“Harvard is a great team. In the end, it’s a really great win for us,” Turgeon said. “I think Harvard will win 20-plus games this year and have a chance to be an NCAA Tournament team.”
Cowan did wind up with 20 points, while Aaron Wiggins, another key to Maryland’s victory, added 13 points. Eric Ayala also had 13 points, as did Darryl
Morsell, while big man Jalen Smith finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Morsell led the Terps with 12 rebounds as Maryland outrebounded Harvard 43-29.
“They are very talented, balanced, incredibly long and athletic on the backboard and I thought that was the biggest difference in the game,” Amaker said.
Marquette 101, USC 79: Markus Howard scored 51 points, powering the Golden Eagles to the championship. Howard set a tournament record for the second straight game after having a 40-point performance in a 73-63 victory over Davidson in the first round on Thursday. The previous mark was 38, set by Marquette’s Matt Carlino against Georgia Tech in 2014.
Temple 65, Texas A&M 40: Quinton Rose, who had just nine points in an tournament opening loss to Maryland, broke out of a one-game slump to score 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting to lead the Owls. Texas A&M scored just one field goal in the game’s final 5:21, and Temple had already taken control of the contest.