Wednesday's roundup: Maryland, Detroit rally to wins

College Park, Md. — As one shot after another clanged off the rim, it became apparent to Maryland that the impetus for a comeback against Rutgers would have to take place on the other end of the floor.

So the 14th-ranked Terrapins cranked up the defense, relentlessly pursued every misfire and rode the energy of the home crowd to a 73-65 victory Wednesday night in a duel between Big Ten newcomers.

Maryland (16-2, 4-1) trailed 57-51 before closing with a 22-8 run to avert an upset.

"Whatever it takes for us to win, we'll do. We'll figure it out," coach Mark Turgeon said. "I think that's what I like about this team, because it wasn't looking good. They just said, 'We're going to guard, we're going to rebound and we'll make just enough shots and free throws to win the game.' "

Dez Wells scored 17 points on 4-for-15 shooting and Jake Layman had a career-high 13 rebounds to go with 12 points on a 3-for-12 night.

Maryland shot 24 percent from the floor in the second half. But the Terps limited Rutgers (10-8, 2-3) to one field goal over the final six minutes and finished with a 46-33 rebounding advantage.

"For us to shoot 8 for 33 in the second half and for them to play as well as they did the first 10 or 12 minutes of the half, and for us to figure out a way to win, it's a real credit to our guys," Turgeon said.

Coming off a 67-62 win over then-No. 4 Wisconsin, Rutgers appeared poised for an encore, scoring the first 11 points of the second half and taking a 57-51 lead with 7:27 left.

It was 59-55 before Jared Nickens hit a 3-pointer, Wells made two free throws and then turned a steal into a layup to put Maryland in front 62-59.

A 3-pointer by Nickens made it 67-63 with 2:14 remaining, and Maryland secured the victory at the free throw line, much to the delight of the 12,419 in attendance.

"I thought our crowd was unbelievable," Turgeon said. "I thought that was the difference in the game. It gave us energy on defense and affected them a little bit on offense."

Myles Mack scored 19 points for Rutgers, and Bishop Daniels and Mike Williams each had 12.

"Our downfall tonight was that we didn't rebound the ball well enough and we didn't finish plays — layups, free throws," coach Eddie Jordan said, referring to the Scarlet Knights' 8-for-16 performance at the line.

After opening the game with an 8-0 run, Rutgers began the second half with an 11-0 burst to turn a seven-point deficit into a 42-38 lead.

"I thought we did a great job in the second half coming out after being down," Jordan said.

A 3-pointer by Mack made it 45-40, and minutes later two straight baskets by Jack put the Knights up by six with 14 minutes remaining.

That put the Terrapins in comeback mode, and they didn't take the lead for good until Evan Smotrycz made two foul shots with 2:52 left.

"We have confidence now," Layman said. "We know that no matter what is happening we are going to find a way to win."

Coming close wasn't good enough for Rutgers.

"I feel like we should have beat Maryland," Daniels said. "We had them on the ropes. I feel like we beat ourselves."

More Big Ten

(At) Illinois 72, Northwestern 67: Kendrick Nunn had a career-high 25 points, including four straight free throws in the final 7.5 seconds. Aaron Cosby added a season-high 19 points for the Illini (12-6, 2-3 Big Ten), which had lost three of four. Malcolm Hill and reserve Ahmad Starks finished with 10 points each.

Northwestern (10-7, 1-3) shot 46 percent, compared to 42 percent for Illinois, and enjoyed a 35-30 rebounding advantage. But the Wildcats still dropped their third consecutive game.

State men

Detroit 69, Illinois-Chicago 68: Jarod Williams hit a pair of free throws with 2 seconds left after Detroit forced two turnovers, completing a late rally. The Titans (9-9, 3-1 Horizon) erased a 13-point, second-half deficit, chipping away to tie the score at 63 after a layup by Chris Jenkins.

Jay Harris answered with a 3-pointer for the Flames (5-14, 1-3) and Lance Whitaker sank two free throws for a 68-64 lead with 51 seconds left.

Jenkins came up with a steal and dunked to make it 68-67 with 3 seconds remaining. UIC attempted a long inbounds pass, but turned it over and fouled in the process, setting up Williams for his go-ahead free throws.

Paris Bass led Detroit with 19 points, Juwan Howard Jr. added 14 and Jenkins 13.

(At) Central Michigan 105, Miami (Ohio) 77: Josh Kozinski scored 19 points to lead five Central Michigan players in doubles figures. Central Michigan bounced back after having its six-game winning streak stopped against Ball State, 83-65, on Jan. 10.

Chris Fowler had 16 points, Austin Keel and John Simons scored 15 each, and Rayshawn Simmons chipped in 14 for Central Michigan (12-2, 2-1 Mid-American Conference). Fowler and Simmons each added nine assists.

The Chippewas shot 35 of 51 for 68.6 percent, and nailed 19 of 27 for 70.4 percent from long range to break the century mark for the third time this season. Kozinski was 6 of 7 from the perimeter and Simons hit all five attempts from deep.

Eric Washington scored 23 points and dished out six assists to lead Miami (6-10, 1-2). Geovonie McKnight and LJ Livingston each added 11 points for the Redhawks.

(At) Western Michigan 95, Ball State 93 (2OT): David Brown scored a career-high 35 and Connar Tava tipped in the winner as time expired in the second overtime. Western Michigan's Austin Richie was forced to double-clutch a well-defended 3-point attempt and missed as the shot clock expired, but Tava was left alone and his putback beat the final buzzer.

Brown made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left in the first overtime to tie the score at 89. He fouled out with 4:09 left in the second overtime.

Brown made all seven of his 3-point attempts in the second half to help the Broncos (11-5, 2-1 Mid-American) rally from a 14-point deficit early in the period to a 71-66 lead with 3:58 left.

Ball State (7-7, 2-1) pulled even at 71, but Ritchie hit a 3 and Tucker Haymond made a pair of free throws to put the Broncos back up by five with 21 seconds left. As Zavier Turner made a 3-pointer for Ball State, Sean Sellers drew a foul on Mario Matasovic. Sellers hit two free throws to finish the five-point play with 4.9 seconds left, tying the score at 76 and forcing the first overtime.

(At) Kent State 65, Eastern Michigan 59: Chris Ortiz scored 19 points as Kent State held off an Eastern Michigan comeback. Eastern Michigan (11-5, 0-3 MAC) led by 10 at intermission, but the Golden Flashes battled back quickly in the second half. Derek Jackson's 3-pointer with 15:23 left gave Kent State the lead for good, 41-40, but it was never a comfortable advantage as Kent State (11-5, 2-1) struggled through two prolonged scoring droughts.

After Jimmy Hall's jumper with 9:50 left pushed the lead to 51-42, the team went scoreless until Hall's layup with 5:40 to go. After Ortiz' jumper with 4:55 left the Golden Flashes were scoreless until another Ortiz jumper with 2:03 came after Eastern Michigan cut the lead to 55-54.

Ortiz was 6 of 8 from the field, 6 of 9 from the line.

Mike Talley led the Eagles with 16 points.

Top 25

(At) No. 5 Villanova 88, Xavier 75: Ryan Arcidiacono had 18 points and six assists, Dylan Ennis finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and Villanova made a season-high 15 3-pointers. Josh Hart added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (16-1 overall, 4-1 Big East), who have won three straight conference games by an average of nearly 15 points since their only loss of the season.

Center Matt Stainbrook scored 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting to lead Xavier (11-6, 2-3), which outscored Villanova 46-18 in the paint.

(At) No. 22 Baylor 74, No. 11 Iowa State 73: Kenny Chery made a jumper with 4.7 seconds left and No. 22 Baylor pulled out a win after blowing a 14-point lead. Rico Gathers had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Bears (13-3, 2-2 Big 12), who had led throughout until Georges Niang made a jumper with 1:54 left for a 68-67 lead.

Baylor had started the game with a 16-1 run, and was up 62-48 on a layup by Gathers with 8:40 left before the big closing surge by Iowa State (12-3, 2-1) that included the back-and-forth finish.

Naz Long had 19 points for Iowa State, making all five of his 3-pointers.

No. 12 Notre Dame 62, Georgia Tech 59: Jerian Grant scored 12 points, Steve Vasturia added 11 points. Despite the absence of starting forward Zach Auguste, the Fighting Irish (16-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) secured their best start to a season since 1978-79.

Pat Connaughton, V.J. Beachem and Bonzie Colson each finished with 10 points, and Demetrius Jackson had nine for Notre Dame, which has won 12 of 13.

Irish coach Mike Brey said Auguste missed the game because of an academic matter, but Brey would not speculate on a timetable for his return.

Demarco Cox scored 17 points and Chris Bolden added 13 for Georgia Tech (9-7, 0-4).

(At) No. 13 Wichita State 67, Southern Illinois 55: Darius Carter scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Ron Baker had 11 points and Tekele Cotton added 10 as the Shockers (15-2, 5-0 Missouri Valley) won their 23rd straight conference game.

Deion Lavender scored 15 points, Bola Olaniyan had 12 and Anthony Beane 10 as Southern Illinois (7-11, 0-5) lost its seventh straight.

No. 15 North Carolina 81, (at) North Carolina State 79: Marcus Paige scored 23 points and North Carolina barely held off a late comeback. Kennedy Meeks added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (13-4, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). They led by 12 in the second half and by double figures near the 4-minute mark before watching N.C. State (12-6, 3-2) twice claw within a point in the final seconds.

Ralston Turner scored 20 points to lead N.C. State, including a couple of big 3-pointers late in the Wolfpack's comeback.

San Diego State 60, (at) No. 25 Wyoming 52: Aqeel Quinn scored 14 and Trey Kell 12 for San Diego State (13-4, 3-1 Mountain West). Larry Nance Jr. scored 19 for Wyoming (15-3, 4-1).

State women

Central Michigan 60, (at) Miami (Ohio) 54: Crystal Bradford had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Chippewas (9-6, 4-0). Courtney Larson scored 18 for Miami (3-12, 0-4).

Ohio 82, (at) Eastern Michigan 59: Jamaica Bucknor scored 13 and Janay Morton 12, but the Eagles (7-7, 0-3) dropped their third straight game. Hannah Boesinger scored 18 points off the bench for the Bobcats (12-3, 3-1), who made 6 of their first 7 3-point tries.