TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Terrapins men’s basketball team was on the brink of yet another road letdown. After cutting an eight-point Terps lead into a one-point deficit in less than four minutes, Alabama had the ball with 19.1 seconds remaining on the game clock.
A few weeks ago, players later said, a young bunch would’ve wilted right there. It would’ve lagged on defense and allowed the top-seeded Crimson Tide to sink a game-clinching basket. A red-clad crowd of 9,479 would’ve roared as the Terps grappled with the end of an up-and-down season.
But these aren’t the Terps from a few weeks ago. Instead of delivering an all-too-familiar disappointment, coach Mark Turgeon’s squad clamped down during the game’s pivotal moments. Center Alex Len swatted a Rodney Cooper runner out of bounds with 3.1 seconds remaining. And after struggling to find an open look, Crimson Tide guard Trevor Lacey launched an off-kilter jumper that clanged off the iron as time expired.
The miss secured a 58-57 win and a date in famed Madison Square Garden, where the No. 2-seed Terps will face the winner of tonight’s Virginia-Iowa game in Tuesday’s NIT semifinals.
“We just held on, which I don’t like — just holding on,” said Turgeon, whose Terps have now won 25 games for the first time since the 2006-07 season. “But at this time of year, it was big.”
It was a significant moment for a team that slogged through ACC play with just two road victories. The Terps (25-12) bent, but they didn’t break. They hit clutch buckets down the stretch, locked down defensively and handed Alabama (23-13) its first defeat at Coleman Coliseum since Dec. 30.
And they did it in an unconventional manner. Forward Dez Wells wasn’t himself in the second half, scoring just five points with three turnovers after the break. Center Alex Len — who has struggled on the road this season — delivered a 15-point, 13-rebound, five-block performance despite nagging foul trouble.
And a streaky group notched a stellar shooting night. The Terps shot 50 percent from the field and hit 7-of-15 3-pointers. With its defense humming in critical stretches, the team’s offensive display was enough to overcome the late Crimson Tide rally. On the night, the Terps held Alabama to 40 percent shooting.
“We blocked a lot of shots and we rebounded,” center Shaquille Cleare said. “We just didn’t give guys three or four chances. We went after the ball really well, and Alex protected the rim all night.”
The Terps jumped to a 10-5 lead before enduring a nearly eight-minute scoreless stretch. Alabama pieced together an 8-0 spurt during the drought to take a 13-10 lead with 14:10 left in the half. Both teams then exchanged blows until an 11-5 Terps run secured a seven-point lead entering halftime.
During the break, Turgeon walked over to a whiteboard in the visitor’s locker room and jotted down a list of Madison Square Garden’s top moments. He discussed NBA championship games, Michael Jackson concerts and referenced the historic Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight. He was trying to prevent a second-half letdown. He was trying to remind an erratic team that a postseason title still hung in the balance.
The speech seemed to resonate, and the Terps ratcheted up the pressure after intermission. Using a full-court press to nag the Crimson Tide into costly turnovers, they built a 10-point edge less than four minutes into the second half.
But then they started fumbling the ball and tallying critical giveaways of their own. They notched five second-half turnovers before the under-12 timeout, and their lead dwindled to 48-47 with about five minutes remaining.
But the Terps netted buckets when it mattered. Guard Pe’Shon Howard — who logged 35 minutes with Seth Allen out with a fractured bone in his hand — hit a wide-open 3-pointer, and forward Jake Layman added two more treys to grab a 57-49 lead with 3:40 remaining.
“It gave us a boost,” Layman said. “It was good to have.”
Desperate to keep its season alive, the Crimson Tide attacked the lane and cobbled together an 8-1 run. But it was all for naught.
After all, the Terps have grown up in recent weeks. Players say they feel closer to their teammates. Turgeon says he doesn’t have to repeat the same instructions in timeouts as much. And a chronically inconsistent crew has now won three straight games for the first time since nonconference play.
Those are notable strides for a team that regularly collapsed when facing adversity less than a month ago.
“It’s great to get a good road win,” Wells said. “We never give up. We’ve been through a lot this year. For us to get this road win means a lot to us.”
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