Maryland men’s basketball trampled by UCLA, 67-55

Maryland men’s basketball continues to shoot its way out of basketball games.

After going down by 17 at the half against UCLA, the Terps somehow found themselves down by only six points with six minutes left to play. But that’s when the shooting problems that have plagued Maryland so often popped up once again.

From that point forward, the Terps finished 2-of-12 from the field, failing to further carve a dent into the Bruins’ lead — and that’s with UCLA not hitting a single field goal for the last 4:22 of game time.

Marred by poor decision making and shot selection, Maryland ultimately sputtered against UCLA, 67-55. The Terps are now 0-5 in Big Ten play.

After paltry showings from 3-point range in its last few contests, Maryland was certainly not shy about unleashing from deep to begin the contest. In fact, its first three attempts came from behind the arc, with Darius Adams sinking the lone make.

Perhaps most notable in the opening minutes was the Terps’ dominance on the glass. Of the game’s first 11 rebounds, 10 were pulled down by Maryland. Four of those boards came on the offensive end, with both guards and bigs alike rushing the restricted area after a shot. The Terps finished the night with 48 boards to the Bruins’ 29.

That disparity on the glass didn’t correlate to a large disparity on the scoreboard. Instead, UCLA utilized its weapons efficiently — namely star big Tyler Bilodeau. By the time the first frame was halfway complete, the Bruins held a one-point advantage.

Then trouble struck for the Terps. UCLA embarked on a massive 16-0 run, while Maryland suffered a 3-of-15 shooting stretch. As has been the case in most of their droughts this season, the Terps’ offensive momentum and energy was halted. Set plays took major chunks off the shot clock, and none of Maryland’s guards could seem to beat their defender one-on-one and put the Bruins in rotation.

Even more damaging to the offense was the Terps’ four turnovers in four minutes — Andre Mills had three giveaways of his own early.

UCLA’s offense wasn’t particularly revolutionary during this stretch, either. Rather, smart plays to the open cutter or high-percentage jumpers made up the Bruins’ attack. Eric Dailey Jr. made his mark at different spots — catching alley-oops and sinking baseline midranges — en route to nine first half points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Maryland went nearly six and a half minutes without a single point before Elijah Saunders broke the silence with a jumper. But the damage had already been done — the Terps were down by 13 points as the end of the half approached.

After Saunders’ make, Maryland didn’t score for the final 2:39 of the first period.

The Terps earned the first four points of the second half. UCLA mirrored some of Maryland’s first half struggles, going nearly three and a half minutes before scoring. On some possessions, the Bruins were tentative to shoot, leading to some desperate heaves as the shot clock expired. Isaiah Watts even swatted a last-ditch Bailey 3-point attempt.

But despite a pair of Saunders 3-pointers and UCLA’s 1-of-8 start to the frame, the Bruins’ lead didn’t come into jeopardy — at least not initially.

With seven minutes left to play, Maryland finally got itself within 10 points of UCLA on a George Turkson Jr. and-one. Then Diggy Coit struck a minute later, slashing inside for another and-one opportunity — it was the Terps’ two new second-half starters that desperately tried to give them a serious boost heading into the final minutes.

But Mick Cronin’s Bruins squad maintained composure, making a sequence of free throws and layups to keep Maryland at bay.

In some respects, the Terps dealt with an issue of time at the end of the contest — it simply didn’t have enough to properly contest the end result. But that’s largely the product of the team’s inept offense and lack of urgency in the first half.

Three things to know

1. More 3-point mishaps. When Maryland gets behind on the scoreboard, it tends to overcompensate on the offensive end, often throwing up 3-pointers instead of manufacturing easy buckets to claw its way back in it. That trend continued Saturday, and the Terps went 6-of-33 from deep. Over its last three games, Maryland is a miserable 18-of-94 from downtown.

2. Second half changes. Mills and Adams started the game for Williams, but the always-fiery head coach began the second half with George Turkson Jr. and Coit in their place. Without Pharrel Payne, Maryland has had to employ a plethora of unorthodox lineup combinations, but none have produced a consistently desired result.

3. Officially 0-5 in the Big Ten. Maryland has dropped to new lows — almost. The last time the Terps started the season 0-5 in conference play was back in 1992-93. That year, Maryland finished 12-16 and 2-14 in ACC play under head coach Gary Williams. The Terps are on that sort of trajectory as they cross the midway point of the season.