Twice Yogi Ferrell had a chance to win or force overtime against Maryland just before time expired, and twice the junior guard came up just short.
IU fell to No. 19 Maryland 68-66 in College Park, Md., despite 23 points from Ferrell. He connected on 6-of-9 shots from beyond the arc, but missed his final 3-pointer and the ensuing putback attempt at the buzzer.
After the final miss, Ferrell pounded both fists to the floor, looked up and let out a scream, but there wasn’t much else he could do. Crean soon greeted him, offering him an embrace before the two walked off the floor as the Terrapins (20-5, 8-4) celebrated their win.
It was a frustrating end to a game that saw IU (17-8, 7-5) fail to convert a few too many layups, botch a few too many dunks and miss a few too many wide-open looks in a game that came down to the final possession.
The loss is IU’s first in the Big Ten in a game decided by six points or less.
But for most of the night, Ferrell was the story. Prior to the final possession, he could hardly miss, regardless of where he was shooting.
He banked in a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining to cut Maryland’s lead to just one point to give the Hoosiers a chance to win to begin with.
While his teammates were struggling to connect on shot attempts, Ferrell was routinely connecting on circus shots. He hit a few just before the shot clock expired and even finished a 4-point play on a corner 3-point attempt in the first half.
That type of success from beyond the arc became a trend for the Hoosiers. They were more efficient beyond the arc shooting 40 percent than within it where they shot just 35.7 percent on 2-pointers.
Maryland shot 49 percent overall from the field and connected on 10-of-21 3-point attempts. Three different Terrapins scored in double-digits, led by Dez Wells and Melo Trimble, who both had 18 points.
Jordan Fuchs, the freshman tight-end-turned-forward who joined the Hoosiers Wednesday morning, did not play. Neither did freshman forward Emmitt Holt, who instead sat on the bench while junior forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea and sophomores Troy Williams and Collin Hartman manned the post throughout the night.
The lead changed hands 18 times, including 12 times in the first half where the two teams combined to hit 11 3-pointers.
Maryland ultimately got the last laugh and is now tied with Ohio State for second place in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers fell to seventh place with six games left to play.
