The No. 20 Purdue Boilermakers picked up a big home win Saturday over the No. 10 Maryland Terrapins with an 83-79 victory at Mackey Arena.
It was a big night for sophomore Dakota Mathias, who came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points after coming into the game averaging just 4.8. A.J. Hammons led Purdue with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Mathias had an incredible first half with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting. It was even more noteworthy considering his recent production, per Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star:
The most impressive two-pointer came right before the halftime buzzer to give the Boilermakers a 44-39 edge, via Purdue on BTN:
Former Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller was impressed by Mathias' performance:
It was almost for naught as Maryland used a strong full-court press to turn a late 10-point deficit into a tie game with two minutes left. However, trailing by one 30 seconds later, the ball went out of bounds underneath, and the referees signaled possession to stay with the Terrapins. However, a review overturned the call, determining that the ball actually went off Maryland's Diamond Stone.
Purdue then drove down and hit a layup on the other end for a 79-76 lead it would not relinquish.
Although Purdue couldn't put the Terps away until late, the Boilermakers never trailed after jumping out to a 7-2 lead. They stretched the lead to nine with about 14 minutes to play in the first half on this acrobatic shot from Rapheal Davis, via Purdue on BTN:
Rebounding was a key issue in this game, as pointed out by Doyel:
Purdue ended up winning on the boards, 41-22.
Everything seemed to be going Purdue's way. Even on this play that included a poor pass, the Boilermakers ended up with two on a dunk from Isaac Haas, via Purdue on BTN:
The Purdue lead grew to 24-8, but Maryland used a 23-9 run to cut the lead to two and kept the game close the rest of the half thanks to strong play by Stone, per Maryland Basketball:
He finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Three other Terrapins scored in double figures: Melo Trimble (19), Jake Layman (15) and Jared Nickens (10).
They made it close in the second half, cutting the lead to two at 58-56 with 10:46 remaining and forcing Purdue to call a timeout.
But just like every other time Maryland made a run, Purdue answered. Caleb Swanigan nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession, and the Boilermakers went on a 16-8 run to climb to a seemingly insurmountable 74-64 lead with 4:14 to play.
That's when Maryland began its comeback. Seth Davis of CBSSports.com noted the strong play just prior to the Terrapins tying the game:
That was moments before the out-of-bounds call that eventually helped Purdue claim the victory.
In the end, Hammons, Mathias and Co. were just too strong in front of their home crowd to allow a second-half comeback, keeping the fans in the game with exciting plays like this one from Vince Edwards, via Purdue on BTN:
In addition to Mathias' and Hammons' big nights, Swanigan chipped in 10, while Davis and Edwards each had 11.
It was a great resume-building victory for the Boilermakers, who improved to 10-6 in Big Ten play and 22-7 overall, as noted by ESPN:
They were a five seed in Joe Lunardi's ESPN Bracketology coming into the game. Maryland, which is currently a three seed, according to Lunardi, is all but out of the Big Ten regular-season race after the loss.
At 11-5 in conference play, the Terrapins are now two games behind the Indiana Hoosiers, who sit in first place. With just two conference games remaining, the best they can do is tie for the lead, as noted by Mike Berman of Indianapolis' CBS4:
It's the third loss in four games for Maryland, who will be trending in a negative direction heading into league tournament time unless it can find a way to win its regular-season finale against Indiana.
Purdue, with a road game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a home contest against the Wisconsin Badgers left, has a great shot at finishing in the top five of the Big Ten.
Postgame Reaction
When all was said and done, the most glaring stat to jump off the page was the huge rebounding edge for Purdue.
Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon put the onus on the players after the game, per Baltimore's WSNT Radio. "Obviously the difference in the game is that we couldn't rebound and they could...They've (the players) got to fix it. I can only do so much."
Turgeon did note the positives—including 16-of-18 from the free-throw line and just six turnovers—saying, “We looked more like us today,” per Daniel Martin of CSN Mid-Atlantic.
Mathias said the 7-of-17 shooting from downtown was a big reason for the victory, per Nathan Baird of the Lafayette Journal & Courier:
"What we’ve been looking for all year is consistency from outside. When that happens, they have to honor it," he said.
However, it wasn't all fun and games for Purdue who nearly gave the game away by turning it over multiple times late. Rapheal Davis commented on Maryland's press, per Baird.
"When you turn it over, you get tight naturally," he said.
It worked out for Purdue, and Mathias said it was the biggest win of the season for his team, per Baird.
"I'd say it’s the No. 1 performance so far. Top 10 team, to pull out a win like that, makes it more special," he said.