Terrapins men’s basketball forward Robert Carter Jr. flapped his lengthy arms twice, daring the sellout crowd at Xfinity Center to get louder with about 14 minutes left Saturday. Seconds earlier, he had driven from behind the three-point line and slammed home a hellacious one-handed slam to bring the fans roaring to their feet.
The Terps hadn’t lost at home in 25 straight games. Carter and the fans weren’t ready for that streak to end. So the crowd answered his dare over the final 14 minutes, willing the Terps to a crucial 16-2 run in the final minutes.
Carter finished 7-for-10 from the floor for 19 points with guard Rasheed Sulaimon adding a game-high 21 points to help the No. 4 Terps capture a 72-61 win over No. 18 Purdue. It’s their second win over a top-25 team in as many weeks.
“We just keep figuring out ways to win,” coach Mark Turgeon said.
When Purdue (19-5, 7-4 Big Ten) took a 51-47 lead — matching their largest of the night — it was Carter who answered at the other end. He drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the night near the Terps (21-3, 10-2) bench to spark a 9-0 run that eventually turned into the 16-2 knockout blow.
The Terps spoke at length about Purdue’s superior size before practice Friday, but Carter said after the game it didn’t bother him. Instead, the 6-foot-9 forward stretched the floor throughout the night.
“I always feel like I’m at an advantage, per se, because I just put in a lot of work on different aspects of my game,” Carter said.
On two different instances, Carter hauled in a defensive rebound and immediately turned his attention up court. He said the Terps needed to push the ball in transition to avoid letting Purdue’s big men settle into their defense.
So he heaved a couple of court-length passes to Sulaimon for dunks.
“We wasn’t making shots, so I just took it upon myself to do my best impression of Cam Newton,” Carter said. “I threw a couple touchdown passes to ‘Sheed and he caught a couple of them. I wanted to dab on them, but I just stuck with the touchdown [signal].”
Sulaimon has often said his offensive output is contingent on whether star guard Melo Trimble is scoring or being a facilitator. With Trimble going 2-for-12 from the floor, Sulaimon stepped up.
The graduate transfer routinely attacked the basket, getting to the line a season-best eight times. He finished 7-for-12 from the floor and added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
“It was a shock to me,” Sulaimon said. “I thought if I ever had a double-double it would be points and assists.”
But what seemed to impress Turgeon the most Saturday was his team’s defensive effort, especially late in the second half. Aside from center AJ Hammons, who scored 18 points, no other Boilermaker scored more than 10.
During the Terps’ 16-2 run, Purdue went 1-for-6 from the floor with two turnovers. Plus, the Boilermakers finished the day 3-for-25 from deep.
“I have been doing this a long time,” Turgeon said. “I have had really good defensive teams, but right now we are playing at a level I don’t know if I have seen as a head coach.”
The fifth-year coach called Saturday center Diamond Stone’s best defensive performance. Hammons did go 9-for-16 from the floor, but the freshman managed to stay out of foul trouble while forcing Purdue’s 7-footers into tough shots in the post.
Purdue attempted just five foul shots compared to the Terps’ 27 shots.
On the Terps’ final two free throws of the night from forward Jake Layman, Sulaimon stood near half court with guard Jared Nickens, Trimble and Carter.
Sulaimon threw his arms around the trio, and they shared a moment. The home winning streak was still in tact.
“We were all just saying we love each other, man,” Carter said. “We grew up watching moments like these on TV. We kind of stay humble about it and say, ‘We just so lucky we are able to do this.'”
