Maryland Fends Off Michigan

On Sunday, February 21, 2016, the Maryland Terrapins were in desperate need of a win at home in the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland against the Michigan Wolverines. They had just seen their biggest competitor for the Big Ten Title in the Indiana Hoosiers take care of business in a hard-fought battle against the Purdue Boilermakers. They knew that if they wanted to stay in the race, a win would be incredibly crucial, especially after losing two straight games against the Wisconsin Badgers and on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who are one of the worst Big Ten Teams this year. They also wanted this win badly because it was this very same Michigan Wolverines team who had handed them their first Big Ten loss at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan earlier this year.
The game started off with a turnover by the home team Terrapins and a three by Michigan Wolverine Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. Both teams would have a lot of trouble taking care of the ball. The Michigan Wolverines would, by the end of the night, turn the ball over to the home team a total of sixteen times. However, the Maryland Terrapins would have an even harder time taking care of the rock, forking it over to the Wolverines 18 times by the time the final buzzer sounded. Maryland ended up responding on the next possession as Diamond Stone, who had been suspended and was unable to play against the Minnesota Golden Gophers due to a flagrant foul he committed against the Wisconsin Badgers, hit a jumper to bring the game to a score of 3-2 in favor of the Wolverines. The game went pretty back-and-forth after that until there was only 13:14 left in the first half. Prior to that point, the game was tied 12-12. However, when the clock did strike 13:14, Jared Nickens of the Terrapins buried a three to start a 14-0 run for the home team to take a 26-12 lead against their opposition. Throughout the rest of the half, Michigan fought hard and clawed away at the Terrapins' lead, but they still went into the halftime break with a five point deficit. By the time the first 20 minutes of the game had expired, the home team held a 41-36 lead against the Wolverines.
Michigan started the second half on an 11-6 run to tie the game at 47-47 to the dismay of all the fans watching in the Xfinity Center. For a few minutes the game went back-and-forth, but eventually, the Terrapins gathered a decent 8-point lead to give them a little breathing room against the Wolves but it would not last long. Michigan came fighting back and eventually tied the game, once again, with 6:34 left before the final buzzer. After a free throw and a layup, the Wolverines took back the lead by 3. The Terrapins, again, regained the lead, but the Michigan Wolverines would not go away. With only 9 seconds remaining, Duncan Robinson buried a three point jumper to bring the Wolves within just two points, but it would be Maryland ball. The Wolverines tried fouling right away, but they ended up fouling a good free-throw shooter in Melo Trimble who made both shots at the charity stripe to put the game away.