After Michigan’s Tre Donaldson stormed past Maryland men’s basketball’s press, sprinting coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup with 0.4 seconds left, the common feeling was shock — but recent history suggested maybe it shouldn’t have been.
Add up all the time remaining after opponents’ game-winning shots in Maryland’s last four losses and you’d get 7.8 seconds — two buzzer-beaters, a banked-in 3-pointer with 7.4 seconds left at Ohio State and Donaldson’s.
Maryland’s last loss that didn’t come from a game-winner in the last 10 seconds was to Oregon on Jan. 5.
“We did a lot of things right to get to that spot,” coach Kevin Willard said. “We just did one thing wrong.”
The Terps stormed back from a 15-point second-half deficit and retook the lead with eight minutes left. They were down one point with less than 10 seconds before freshman center Derik Queen hit a pair of free throws.
Queen was one of the last lines of defense on Donaldson’s basket. The Michigan guard inbounded the ball with five seconds left before center Vladislav Goldin gave it right back to him.
[Last-second Michigan shot gives Maryland men’s basketball 81-80 loss in Big Ten semifinal]
Donaldson caught Maryland guard Rodney Rice flat-footed and split between him and Gillespie. Maryland big man Julian Reese pointed toward Donaldson from under the hoop, signaling for Queen to stop the ball, but neither the freshman or Selton Miguel got there in time.
“[We need to] just make smarter decisions on the defensive end, no fouls, but just contain and stay in front of them,” Queen said. “Hopefully we’re never in that position again to even do that.”
Reese was inches away from getting a finger on Donaldson’s attempt and sending Maryland to its first-ever Big Ten tournament final. Instead of playing for a ring, his team will spend Selection Sunday at home and shift its focus to the NCAA tournament.
Some may say the extra rest day ahead of the more important tournament is a good thing, which Willard acknowledged before traveling to Indianapolis. But after Saturday’s defeat, he didn’t care about that — he knows few teams have the opportunity to win any kind of championship, and was disappointed that this group’s chance was taken away.
[Selton Miguel found himself under Amir-Abdur Rahim. His last season is in his honor.]
Willard’s team has been in this situation before. He said it bounced back and won each of the games immediately after the previous last-second defeats.
“I feel like we left those games mad, and we came out with a lot of energy the next game just because of how the last game ended,” junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie said. “So I feel like we [are] gonna bounce back.”
The energy Maryland usually plays with wasn’t there for most of Saturday, according to each player who spoke with the media. Selton Miguel said the team needs to bring it from the get-go, and shouldn’t have its games depend on getting one stop at the end of the contest.
Now, as Maryland enters March Madness, any future last-second shot wouldn’t just give it a loss, but end its season.
“It’s a learning lesson. That’s the way I talk to them, that’s the way we’re going to look at it,” Willard said. “… I’ve got to make an adjustment late in the game.”
