The Rutgers men’s basketball team earned its second win of the season with a 69-65 victory over Maryland, a game in which the Scarlet Knights erased a huge first-half lead before rallying late to secure the victory.
Lino Mark’s 3-pointer opened the scoring, and Darren Buchanan’s second basket of the game nearly two minutes later put the Cavaliers up by five. The Terrapins didn’t get on the board until Darius Adams hit a free throw with 17 minutes left in the first half. Jamicheal Davis’ fast-break layup extended Rutgers’ lead to four points, but Maryland’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to one. The Cavaliers’ offense found its footing over the next few minutes, thanks in large part to a two-on-two-and-one play that put the Cavaliers up 20-12 with 10 minutes left in the half. Davis hit another fast-break layup to give Rutgers a 10-point lead, and Maryland committed six turnovers in less than 11 minutes.
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In the final 9 minutes of the first half, the Cavaliers continued to pull away, leading by up to 20 points, before the Terrapins cut the lead to 16 points. The Cavaliers’ first-half magic didn’t end there, however, as Tarik Francis hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Rutgers a 39-20 lead as both teams headed back to the locker room. Maryland committed 14 turnovers in the first half and Rutgers scored 14 points.
The Terrapins’ Andre Mills opened the scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer, then Maryland added its second 3-pointer. The Terrapins cut the Cavaliers’ lead to eight points with 15 minutes left, in part due to a flagrant foul call on Rutgers’ Emmanuel Ogbole. From that point on, the collapse was in full swing, with Maryland taking the lead with just under 11 and a half minutes left in the game.
After blowing a huge lead in the first half, the Cavaliers found a way to tie the game and maintain a two-point lead with less than five minutes left in the half. Dylan Grant’s layup and dunk gave Rutgers a six-point lead with 3 and a half minutes left. Maryland once again cut the Cavaliers’ lead to two points as JaMychal Davis hit two consecutive free throws to give Rutgers a four-point lead with less than 30 seconds left. From there, the Cavaliers would win the free throw shootout to seal the victory.
Some players to watch for the Cavaliers are Francis, Davis and Buchanan. Francis scored a game-high 19 points and hit several key free throws at the last moment to ensure the victory. Davis scored 12 points in the game, ranking third on the team, but his free throws at the last minute were crucial to the outcome of the game. Buchanan finished second on the team with 14 points, grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds and, like Davis and Francis, provided crucial free throws in the final seconds.
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One statistic that Rutgers dominated was turnovers, where they finished the game with a +13 advantage.
Mills, Solomon Washington and Elijah Sanders performed well for Maryland. Mills and Washington scored a team-high 15 points, while Sanders had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
One area where Maryland dominated the Cavaliers was rebounding. The Terrapins grabbed 24 more rebounds than Rutgers.
With the win, Rutgers moves one step closer to earning a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, with remaining games against No. 13 Michigan State and at home against Penn State.
MSU-Rutgers is scheduled to tip off Thursday, March 5 at 8 p.m. FS1 will provide live coverage of the game.
