What could have been NCAA tournament: Maryland makes Final Four out of Big Ten
Mark Turgeon finally dispatched the ghost of Gary Williams and Maryland fans turned the Greensboro Coliseum and Madison Square Garden into extensions of the old Cole Field House as the Terrapins went through ACC country to get back to the Final Four for the first time in almost 20 years — and the first time as a Big Ten team.
A regional overflowing with upsets nearly ended with another before the third-seeded Terrapins held off eighth-seeded Florida in overtime, 79-69, to become the second Big Ten team in Atlanta alongside Michigan State and return to where Williams led them to a national title in 2002.
Jalen Smith led five Maryland players in double figures with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Anthony Cowan had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists along with the biggest bucket of the game. Keyontae Johnson led the Gators with a game-high 17 points and was one of three Florida players in double figures in rebounds, but Florida was 2-for-20 from 3-point range.
It was, curiously, Florida’s second straight Elite Eight loss at Madison Square Garden. The Gators lost to South Carolina in the 2017 regional final.
Neither team led by more than six throughout the game until Florida took a nine-point lead with five minutes to go in regulation, but Maryland ripped off a 12-3 run to close the gap and force overtime. After Maryland star Cowan tied the score at 62 with 17 seconds left, Kerry Blackshear had a shot to win it for the Gators just before the buzzer, but his bank shot from just outside the paint rimmed out and Florida couldn’t get a tip.
Florida was as close as 71-69 in overtime before the Terrapins scored the final eight points in front of a partisan crowd to kick off a typically exuberant celebration and conclude a regional that was equally raucous.
Over the first two rounds, five of the 12 games were upsets, sending the third, eighth, 10th and 12th seeds into the Sweet 16. Maryland and Florida were able to restore normalcy there, derailing the improbable runs of East Tennessee State (which knocked off San Diego State) and Yale (which upset West Virginia before taking down another double-digit seed, New Mexico State, in the second round). Florida played its part as well, upsetting top-seeded Dayton in Cleveland in the second round.
Three of the four Final Four teams are now set. Gonzaga became the first team to make it beat Duke in the West Regional final.
The N&O had Patrick Stevens of The Washington Post pick a bracket over the weekend. We then used whatifsports.com to simulate all the games. We’ll do the Final Four over the weekend.
AT NEW YORK
3 MARYLAND 79, 8 FLORIDA 69 (OT)
MARYLAND — Jalen Smith 16 points, 13 rebounds; Anthony Cowan 15 points, seven assists; Aaron Wiggins 13 points; Eric Ayala 12 points; Donta Scott 12 points.
FLORIDA — Keyontae Johnson 17 points, 11 rebounds; Andrew Nembhard 13 points, 13 rebounds; Kerry Blackshear 11 points, 12 rebounds.
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
AT NEW YORK
8 FLORIDA 75, 12 YALE 66
FLORIDA — Keyontae Johnson 16 points, 10 rebounds; Kerry Blackshear 15 points, 10 rebounds; Scottie Lewis 11 points.
YALE — Paul Atkinson 21 points; Azar Swain 15 points; Jordan Bruner 12 points.
GAME NOTES — After seeming to sleepwalk through the first half, trailing 38-25 at the break, Florida dominated the second half, outscoring Yale 50-28. The Gators tied the game 42-42 when Andrew Nembhard banked a shot in off the glass with 13:14 to play. Still, the Gators didn’t take the lead until there was 2:27 showing on the clock, 65-63, on an Omar Payne dunk. Florida outscored Yale 10-3 the rest of the way.
AT NEW YORK
3 MARYLAND 84, 10 EAST TENNESSEE STATE 82
MARYLAND — Anthony Cowan 16 points; Darryl Morsell 16 points; Eric Ayala 15 points; Jalen Smith 12 points, 11 rebounds.
ETSU — Isaiah Tisdale 15 points, 7 rebounds; Jeromy Rodriguez 15 points, 8 rebounds; Patrick Good 12 points; Bo Hodges 11 points; Tray Boyd 10 points.
GAME NOTES — Cowan buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 18 seconds left and ETSU’s Good missed a 3 with four seconds left. Lucas N’Guessan missed the tip as Maryland avoided the upset.
SECOND ROUND
AT CLEVELAND
8 FLORIDA 84, 1 DAYTON 75
FLORIDA — Scottie Lewis 22 points; Keyontae Johnson 16 points, 12 rebounds; Andrew Nembhard 15 points; Noah Locke 13 points; Kerry Blackshear 12 points, 7 rebounds.
DAYTON — Obi Toppin 19 points, 7 rebounds; Trey Landers 14 points; Jalen Crutcher 13 points; Ibi Watson 12 points.
GAME NOTES — Dayton became the second No. 1 seed to lose in the second round (Kansas lost to Houston in the Midwest). Florida opened up a 12-point lead halfway through the first half but saw it shrink to four by halftime. The Gators pushed the advantage to as many as 17 points in the second half as top-seeded Dayton never really challenged.
AT SACRAMENTO
12 YALE 71, 13 NEW MEXICO STATE 64
YALE — Azar Swain 20 points; Paul Atkinson 13 points; Jordan Bruner 11 points, 13 rebounds; Eric Monroe 10 points, 6 assists.
NEW MEXICO STATE — Trevelin Queen 16 points, 8 rebounds; Johnny McCants 15 points, 10 rebounds; Jabari Rice 11 points.
GAME NOTES — Defense led the way for Ivy League champion Yale, which held New Mexico State to just 25 percent (7 of 28) shooting from behind the 3-point arc. This one was almost like two different games. The Aggies led 42-28 at halftime but were outscored 43-22 in the second half. That after leading by as many as 20. Yale finally took the lead with 3:04 to play when Matthue Cotton hit an 18-foot jumper off a good pass from Bruner.
AT GREENSBORO
3 MARYLAND 75, 6 VIRGINIA 59
MARYLAND — Anthony Cowan 12 points; Aaron Wiggins 12 points; Donta Scott 12 points; Darryl Morsell 11 points.
VIRGINIA — Braxton Key 16 points, 8 rebounds.
GAME NOTES — As was the case in the ACC tournament, Virginia’s defense was unusually porous against co-Big Ten champion Maryland. However, the Cavaliers offense didn’t do enough to keep it close. Jalen Smith had nine points and 16 rebounds for Maryland, which made 14 of 15 free throws to help it pull away down the stretch. The Terrapins enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
AT SACRAMENTO
10 EAST TENNESSEE STATE 75, 2 SAN DIEGO STATE 61
ETSU — Tray Boyd 17 points; Bo Hodges 13 points, 9 assists; Jeromy Rodriguez 11 points.
SAN DIEGO STATE — KJ Feagin 15 points; Yanni Wetzell 14 points, 8 rebounds; Malachi Flynn 12 points.
GAME NOTES — East Tennessee State won the battle of mid-majors, outrebounding San Diego State 43-32 and holding the Aztecs to 36 percent (19 of 53) shooting overall, including 22 percent (5 of 23) from 3-point range. ETSU led 37-34 at halftime and outscored San Diego State 38-27 in the second half.
FIRST ROUND
AT CLEVELAND
1 DAYTON 79, 16 NO. KENTUCKY 67
DAYTON — Ryan Mikesell 16 points; Obi Toppin 15 points, 7 rebounds; Trey Landers 13 points; Ibi Watson 10 points.
NO. KENTUCKY — Jalen Tate 25 points; Bryson Langdon 12 points, 6 assists.
GAME NOTES — The Flyers opened up a 12 point lead with 7:44 to play in the first half and eased to the victory.
AT CLEVELAND
8 FLORIDA 81, 9 COLORADO 72
FLORIDA — Keyontae Johnson 16 points, 11 rebounds; Kerry Blackshear 13 points, 8 rebounds; Ques Glover 13 points; Andrew Nembhard 11 points; Scottie Lewis 10 points, 9 rebounds.
COLORADO — McKinley Wright 25 points, 6 assists; Tyler Bey 11 points, 10 rebounds; Evan Battey 10 points.
GAME NOTES — Lewis hit a 3 a minute-and-a-half into the game to start Florida on a 7-0 run to begin the game. The Gators never trailed from there.
AT SACRAMENTO
12 YALE 73, 5 WEST VIRGINIA 63
YALE — Eric Monroe 19 points, Paul Atkinson 17 points, Azar Swain 14 points.
WEST VIRGINIA — Oscar Tshiebwe 12 points, 13 rebounds; Derek Culver 11 points; Jermaine Haley 11 points.
GAME NOTES — After trailing by eight points at halftime, Yale outscored West Virginia 52-34 in the second half. Yale held West Virginia to 13.3 percent (2 of 15) from 3-point range.
AT SACRAMENTO
13 NEW MEXICO STATE 100, 4 BUTLER 91 (OT)
NEW MEXICO STATE — Ivan Aurrecoechea 24 points, 9 rebounds; Johnny McCants 19 points, 9 rebounds; Trevelin Queen 17 points, 7 rebounds; Jabari Rice 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists; Terrell Brown 12 points.
BUTLER — Kamar Baldwin 23 points; Sean McDermott 18 points, 7 rebounds; Aaron Thompson 10 points, 6 assists.
GAME NOTES — Butler’s McDermott sank a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime at 84-84. From there, it was all New Mexico State, which opened a 92-84 lead to start the extra period.
AT GREENSBORO
6 VIRGINIA 63, 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE 49
VIRGINIA — Kihei Clark 19 points, 7 rebounds; Mamadi Diakite 10 points, 7 rebounds.
MSU — D.J. Stewart 11 points; Tyson Carter 11 points; Reggie Perry 10 points, 8 rebounds.
GAME NOTES — After giving up 76 points in the ACC tournament title game, Virginia’s defense returned with a vengeance. The Cavaliers allowed just 20 points in the second half as they opened up a 30-29 halftime lead.
AT GREENSBORO
3 MARYLAND 81, 14 NORTH DAKOTA STATE 66
MARYLAND — Anthony Cowan 28 points, 6 assists; Jalen Smith 17 points, 11 rebounds; Darryl Morsell 15 points, 7 rebounds; Aaron Wiggins 10 points, 8 rebounds.
NDSU — Vinnie Shahid 14 points; Tyson Ward 13 points, 7 rebounds; Rocky Kreuser points.
GAME NOTES — Maryland actually needed a Smith 3-pointer from the corner to lead at halftime, 40-39. But the second half was their as they outscored NDSU 41-27.
AT SACRAMENTO
10 EAST TENNESSEE STATE 72, 7 SAINT MARY’S 63
ETSU — Patrick Good 15 points; Isaiah Tisdale 13 points, 6 rebounds; Jeromy Rodriguez 11 points, 6 rebounds.
SAINT MARY’S — Jordan Ford 20 points; Malik Fitts 14 points, 7 rebounds.
GAME NOTES — Ford sank a long two-pointer early in the second half to tie the score at 38 just before ETSU went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes that pushed their lead to its final margin.
AT SACRAMENTO
2 SAN DIEGO STATE 72, 15 UC IRVINE 70
SAN DIEGO STATE — Malachi Flynn 22 points, 8 assists; Jordan Schakel 13 points; KJ Feagin 10 points.
UC IRVINE — John Edgar 12 points; Eyassu Worku 11 points; Evan Leonard 10 points, 6 assists.
GAME NOTES — UC Irvine took its first lead of the second half with 2:36 to play and still led 70-69 with 16 second left on a 3-pointer from Edgar. But San Diego State’s Flynn responded with a 3-pointer of his own with nine seconds left and a final attempt to tie was batted away before UCI’s Worku could put up a shot at the buzzer.
FIRST FOUR
AT DAYTON
11 MISSISSIPPI STATE 94, 11 TEXAS TECH 76
MSU — Reggie Perry 20 points, 9 rebounds; Robert Woodard 15 points, 8 rebounds; D.J. Stewart 14 points; Tyson Carter 14 points.
TEXAS TECH — Jahmi’us Ramsey 19 points; Kyler Edwards 13 points; Terrence Shannon 10 points, 7 rebounds.
GAME NOTES — Mississippi State led by just two points at halftime but outscored Texas Tech 46-30 in the second half.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 10:56 AM.