LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. _ One of these days, Maryland is either going to come out fast from its locker room for the opening tip or the second half or lose because of another inexplicably horrible start.
Neither happened Friday for the No. 5 Terps against Harvard in the semifinals of the Orlando Invitational at the HP Field House.
After giving up the game's first nine points to the Crimson and trailing by as many as 11 points later in the first half, after nearly catching up before falling behind by seven early in the second half, Maryland survived an unexpectedly tough battle for the second consecutive day to beat Harvard, 80-73, to advance to Sunday's final against the winner of Southern Cal and Marquette.
Coming off scoring a career-high 30 points against Temple in Thursday's opening round, senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. overcame his own sluggish start to lead Maryland (7-0) with 20 points, including 18 in the second half. He was one of five Terps to score in double figures. Senior guard Bryce Aiken led Harvard (5-3) with a career-high 30.
Sophomore forward Jalen Smith had his third double-double this season with 15 points and 10 rebounds and his former high school teammate, junior guard Darryl Morsell, had the first of his career with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomores Aaron Wiggins and Eric Ayala each finished with 13 points for the Terps, who shot poorly from the field (24 of 60) and from the free-throw line (25 of 40).
Cowan keyed a 12-2 run that allowed Maryland to take the lead for good, scoring 10 points and feeding Smith for a dunk off a steal. Wiggins also made three big plays with the outcome still in doubt, leading a 10-3 run by hitting Smith for another dunk and then following in a missed fast-break layup with a tip-in to push the lead to 65-59 and then hitting a corner 3-pointer that all but put the game away.
