Maryland led for only 1.9 seconds of Wednesday’s clash at Minnesota. It was all they needed to stun the Golden Gophers, as Darryl Morsell drained a 25-foot three pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining to complete Maryland’s 17-point comeback.
Maryland trailed by as many as 17 and 47-31 at halftime. Their early struggles had head coach Mark Turgeon out of his suit jacket. However, the Terrapins outscored Minnesota 43-26 in the second half.
Maryland kept chipping away at their deficit. A Jalen Smith three with 8:09 remaining finally cut their deficit to single digits at 64-55.
Then Maryland outscored Minnesota 10-2 the final 2:02 of the game.
Smith’s put-back cut Maryland’s deficit to 73-71 with 18 seconds remaining. Maryland fouled immediately to send Minnesota to the free throw and extending the game.
Gabe Kalscheur missed the front end of a one-and-one, setting up the thrilling finish.
Maryland now has three wins comeback wins of at least 15 points, tying Auburn and Nicholls State for the most this season in Division I.
With the improbable win, Maryland improves to 23-5 overall and 13-4 in the Big Ten. They maintain a two-game lead over Penn State and Michigan State for first-place in the conference.
