Maryland hands No. 3 Purdue 2nd straight loss

COLLEGE PARK, Md.– Jahmir Young scored 20 points, and Maryland utilized a dominant stretch in the middle of the second half Thursday night to rally past No. 3 Purdue 68-54 and deal the Boilermakers their 2nd successive loss.The Terrapins

( 18-8, 9-6 Big 10) trailed 37-29 prior to appearing on a 29-4 burst to take control.Hakim Hart included 13 points for Maryland, which beat a top-three group for the first time since falling then-No. 3 Iowa 74-68 on Jan. 28, 2016. Maryland enhanced to 14-1 in the house this season.Students stormed the court– and one even climbed up onto the

basket– after Maryland made its fourth triumph of the season over a ranked group. Exactly ten years earlier, fans hurried onto the exact same court after Maryland beat then-No. 2 Duke.”I understood we were going to win, “Maryland coach Kevin Willard said

.” This was not a surprise to me. This is an astounding program. It’s one of the best programs in the nation. I thought it was necessary for the fan base and it was very important for the students to simply understand what this program is truly everything about.”Zach Edey and Braden Smith both scored 18 points for Purdue(23-4, 12-4 ), which has lost three of

4– all on the road. The Boilermakers were outrebounded 35-23 by the smaller Terps. It was their largest deficit on the glass all season and only the 3rd time they were beaten on the boards.Editor’s Picks 1 Related”We need to be tougher,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “You need to come in here and win the belongings fight. You have to have more rebounds and less turnovers. Now you can begin right there and pursue something. We didn’t do that. When you get on the roadway and you have less ownerships and now you don’t shoot well, oh that’s going to be a long night versus a quality group.”The Boilermakers’ recent battles have actually all come versus great teams, however they have not been as sharp as they were throughout their 22-1 start. There’s still time to sort things out before the postseason, and Purdue must get a boost from playing three of its last 4 regular-season games at home.In Thursday’s game, Purdue seemed headed for a bounce-back from Sunday’s 64-58 loss at Northwestern when it took an eight-point lead in the 2nd half. However after a basket by Young, Purdue forward Mason Gillis was called for a nasty and then was evaluated a technical foul for arguing with official Doug Sirmons.That successfully fired up a 10-0 spurt that prompted Painter to call timeout. He attempted to once again stem the run when Hart hit a 3 to make it 50-41– a 21-4 spree at that point.Maryland kept rising after the timeout, and by the time Hart

made another 3 with 7:15 staying, the Terps were up 58-41 and Purdue faced its biggest deficit of the season. “It just appeared like they were living about eight feet from the rim right

in the middle, and they were simply breaking us down off the dribble,” Painter said.The Terps eventually pushed the benefit to 18 and never ever saw their lead cut to single digits the remainder of the night against a group that was ranked No. 1 earlier this month.”Like coach said in the locker space, ‘Just think of where you were in 2015,” ‘stated forward Julian Reese

, who had 10 points and nine rebounds.”At this time in 2015, we had a bad record– I’m not exactly sure what it was– and [now] it’s [18-8] and we simply beat a top-five team in the country. It’s absolutely a confidence booster, but we have to keep working.”Maryland improved to 8-0 in conference home games under Willard, who has reenergized the program in his very first season because

arriving from Seton Hall. Maryland avenged an earlier loss for the third time this season; the Terps likewise divided with Michigan and Wisconsin.Purdue fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after its loss at Northwestern on Sunday, and the Boilermakers seem likely to slip at least a couple of more spots next week.The Associated Press contributed to this report.