BALTIMORE — For three possessions midway through the first half Saturday, Maryland men’s basketball had five freshmen on the court. Those possessions went: missed three, turnover, turnover.
It was the lowest point of a half largely defined by clanks and turnovers; with early fouls on forwards Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith, the Terps were limited on the inside and unable to make up for it beyond the arc.
Two days after a 62-60 loss to Purdue in which Maryland couldn’t find a field goal for the final 4:20 of play, coach Mark Turgeon’s squad opened up against Loyola-Chicago in similar fashion — ice cold. But, as Turgeon said before facing No. 4 Virginia two weeks ago, playing the Ramblers in Baltimore was the Terps’ final chance against a significantly outmatched opponent and for his young team to jell.
But as Maryland struggled to reach double-digit points with time winding down in the first half, the squad’s two mainstay guards, Eric Ayala and Anthony Cowan, helped spark nine straight points — capped by a between-the-legs pass from Ayala to Darryl Morsell in transition — to separate the Terps and Ramblers in an eventual 55-41 win.
“We didn’t start the game well offensively; couldn’t make a shot,” Turgeon said. “But we just kept guarding.”
When Loyola performed an exemplary under-basket offensive inbound early in the first half, leading to a backdoor cut and-1 from Aher Uguak, Fernando made his way to the bench with 17 minutes left to play and two fouls. Smith followed him shortly after with a foul of his own. And with their top-two post options combining for just 10 minutes in the first half, the Terps struggled to find answers.
The Ramblers’ swarming zone defense kept them out of the lane, and Maryland started 1-for-10 from three-point range. But as the Terps’ offense appeared incapable of putting the ball through the hoop for large parts of the opening frame, they stayed within striking distance because Loyola’s offense faltered for large stretches, too.
“Just a lot of wasted offensive possessions,” Loyola coach Porter Moser said. “Our shooting woes continue.”
The Ramblers finished with 19 turnovers and five assists while shooting 32 percent from the floor.
So Maryland only trailed by five when Cowan launched a deep three-point attempt with 6:32 remaining in the opening period and splashed it, the start of a three-minute, 12-2 run capped by another Cowan triple.
“He’s got range from deep,” Moser said. “In the beginning of the game, he went right by us. Then we gave him a step or two and he shot the three.”
Still, the Ramblers cut into the Terps’ 24-20 edge entering halftime as Maryland missed its last three shots — all threes.
But a 7-2 run to open the second half expanded the Terps’ advantage, and Serrel Smith added to it with the second of two corner threes to establish a 15-point lead with about seven minutes to go. Smith finished with eight points, supplementing Cowan’s game-high 17 and Aaron Wiggins’ 10.
Morsell twisted his ankle in warmups, Turgeon said, and was limited to just 12 minutes Saturday. And with Fernando and Jalen Smith on the bench for most of the first half, Ricky Lindo chipped in a career-high 24 minutes.
“Even though me and Stix had foul trouble,” Fernando said, “for them to be able to stay in the game and keep doing the job we all planned to do in the locker room was big for us.”
With Fernando back on the floor in the second half, finishing with 23 minutes after playing just six in the first period, Loyola’s inside presence was largely neutralized. The Terps took advantage, with Wiggins scoring on two straight possessions to maintain their double-digit lead, despite a stretch where the Ramblers hit five of their last six shots.
After Maryland’s loss to Purdue, Turgeon pointed out a December matchup against a team of the Boilermakers’ caliber made it difficult to work on the depth of a team that has primarily utilized its top-six players for points and minutes.
Loyola offered that chance. And after a putrid start offensively, Maryland rebounded, cruising to a victory at Royal Farms Arena after a two-point loss to Purdue on Thursday. Eight players featured for more than 10 minutes in the Terps’ lowest-scoring game this season.
“It’s kind of good to get the bad taste out your mouth,” Cowan said. “Nobody wants their last game to be a loss.”
