ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN — Guard Rasheed Sulaimon’s teammates thought the shot was going in.
After all, just three days earlier Terrapins men’s basketball guard Melo Trimble had hit a game-winning 3-pointer at Wisconsin. So when Sulaimon rose up from a similar spot with three seconds remaining and the Terps needing a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, the team felt confident.
It was a good look, coach Mark Turgeon said. The shot looked perfect.
It wasn’t. The shot bounced off the back rim and the Terps hung their heads, left to contemplate their first defeat since Dec. 1.
In the end, the No. 3 Terps couldn’t overcome a 13-point second-half deficit and a career-low two points from Trimble. While freshman center Diamond Stone led a comeback with 19 of his 22 points coming in the second half, the Terps fell, 70-67, to Michigan on Tuesday night at the Crisler Center. The Wolverines were without their scoring, rebounds and assists leader — injured senior guard Caris LeVert (leg).
The Terps were fortunate to have a chance to tie the game in the dying seconds. With 17 seconds left and Turgeon’s team down by two, Michigan forward Mark Donnal grabbed an offensive rebound. The Terps had to foul. Donnal went 1-for-2 from the line, and it remained a one-possession game.
But the Terps were out of late-game magic.
“We lost way before that,” Turgeon said. “We had some possessions where we came up empty, and we’re just not getting to the foul line enough.”
The Terps shot 11 free throws, more than nine below their season average entering Tuesday’s game. Trimble entered averaging more than four free throw attempts per game, but he didn’t get to the line once.
“We settled for too many jump shots,” Stone said. “We need to be more aggressive. If we go to the hole we’re either making a shot or being fouled.”
While LeVert was out, swingmen Zak Irvin and Duncan Robinson replaced his production. Irvin tied Stone for a game-high in points with 22 and Robinson, a long-range specialist, had 17. The Terps couldn’t guard Irvin with their big lineup, Turgeon said.
“Our defense has to be a lot better than it was,” said forward Jake Layman, who finished second on the team with 18 points.
Trimble never settled into a rhythm and sat for a long stretch in the first half after picking up two fouls by the 9:30 mark. The Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year finished 1-for-7 and had more turnovers (four) than assists (three).
Without their leading scorer producing, the Terps entered the break trailing, 37-29, which tied their largest halftime deficit of the season.
“We gave them confidence in the first half,” Layman said. “Let them hit too many open threes.”
When Turgeon left the court at the break he was visibility frustrated, but his anger didn’t translate into a quick start to the second half.
A four-point play from Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. put the Terps in a 13-point hole with 16:38 left. Over the next eight minutes the Terps played their best defense of the season, Turgeon said. On the offensive end, they leaned on Stone, Layman and redshirt junior forward Robert Carter Jr., who had 15 points.
Behind that trio, the Terps took a 57-56 lead with 6:48 remaining. But their first lead since the first half didn’t last long. The Wolverines stretched their lead to eight with less than three minutes remaining.
The Terps responded again. But nearly two weeks after the team overcame an 11-point deficit with less than six minutes left to upend Penn State, 70-64, they couldn’t complete another big late-game comeback.
They were left searching for answers.
“We got a few guys that need to play a little bit better, need to be more consistent,” Turgeon said. “We need to start games better.”
