Maryland basketball suffers discouraging string of missed opportunities in loss to Xavier
Maryland basketball’s late-season woes followed them into the 2017 NCAA Tournament as March Madness ends early for the Terps, losing to Xavier 76-65 Thursday night.
Maryland basketball‘s late-season collapse continued into the 2017 NCAA Tournament, falling to Xavier 76-65 as the Terps season comes to a close.
According to ESPN, Maryland exits March Madness without a win for the first time since the 1996-97 5-seed Maryland Terrapins fell to 12-seed College of Charleston.
Both Maryland and Xavier encountered poor offensive starts as the Terps missed their first four shots and didn’t capture their first points of the game until Trimble’s three-point field goal with 16:32 in the first half.
Maryland ran into a nine-point deficit with 10:46 remaining in the opening half and only had just eight points to their name. Despite the appalling start, Maryland basketball scurried back to take a 36-35 lead headed into halftime. Trimble, Justin Jackson, and Kevin Huerter were hitting shots as it seemed Maryland had finally overcome their slump as momentum was on their side.
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Maryland’s first half fortune seemed to carry over in the second half after the Terps quickly jumped out to a five-point lead. The Terps were able to maintain their lead up until the 12:57 mark in the second half.
Once Xavier tied the game at 50 a piece, the Terrapins completely crumbled as Xavier jumped out to a demanding 61-50 lead after an 11-0 Xavier run that included three straight three-pointers by Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett.
The once 20-2 Maryland Terrapins ended the season dropping five of their last seven games, ending the season 24-9 overall and 12-6 in Big Ten play.
The big question heading into the offseason is obviously the draft decision of Trimble as he’ll likely, at the least, put his name into the NBA draft like last year but elect to not hire an agent, giving him the flexibility to return to Maryland.
The Maryland Terrapins, who finished second in the conference, exceeded expectations after the Big Ten preseason predictions showed Maryland picked to finish sixth. Notwithstanding a disappointing ending to the season, Maryland’s three starting freshmen will be back next season along with the chance of Trimble
Postgame Reaction
A doleful Melo Trimble talks to CSN Mid-Atlantic:
Maryland basketball players postgame reaction by Carol Maloney from NBC4:
Former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams’ encouraging thoughts from FOX 5 DC’s Jim Lokay: