NEWARK, N.J. _ A year ago, the Maryland men's basketball team emerged from its 11-day break for final exams hoping to build some momentum as Big Ten play loomed. Led by Myles Powell, Seton Hall interrupted what became a stretch of nine wins in 10 games for the Terps, including six straight in the Big Ten.
Maryland coach Mark Turgeon can only hope that his team can respond similarly after what happened Thursday night at the Prudential Center.
Despite the Pirates missing their two top scorers, Powell and junior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, because of injury, the No. 7 Terps were simply missing everything for much of the night before making a frantic, ill-fated comeback in a 52-48 defeat.
After cutting what was a 10-point deficit to four with three minutes left, senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. was fouled taking a desperation 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds to go. Cowan made the first two and after a timeout and purposely missed the third, but Seton Hall got the rebound and senior guard Quincy McKnight was fouled.
McKnight, who led Seton Hall (7-4) with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, made both free throws to clinch the victory. Cowan led Maryland (10-2) with 16 points, while sophomore forward Jalen Smith finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
While the Terps threatened for most of the game to challenge the lowest scoring output in Turgeon's nine years _ coming in a 62-42 defeat to Alabama on Nov. 17, 2011 _ it was a night of offensive futility. Maryland shot a dismal 14 for 52 from the field, including 5 for 21 on 3-pointers, while committing 17 turnovers. It's the lowest scoring game for the Terps since they joined the Big Ten for the 2014-15 season.
It was the second straight loss for Maryland (10-2), coming after a nine-day break following the team's first loss of the season at now 23rd-ranked Penn State. The Terps now have nine more days off before they get a breather against Bryant, followed by Big Ten home games against Indiana and No. 5 Ohio State.
Until a flurry a points toward the end of the first half cut what had been a 15-point deficit to seven, Maryland was stuck on seven _ points, not its national ranking _ by not scoring a point for nearly five minutes and not hitting a basket for more than 10.
Sophomore guard Anthony Nelson hit a driving bank shot right before the first half ended to give Seton Hall a 27-18 lead, matching the same amount of points the Terps scored in the first half of a loss last season at then-No. 5 Michigan.
The Terps scored on their first possession of the second half on one of only a few nicely designed plays, with Cowan Jr. finding sophomore forward Smith for a layup. Smith missed the free throw, and Maryland quickly saw its deficit grow back to 14 points.
After cutting the deficit in half, 38-31, on a pair of free throws by Smith with 7:31 left, sophomore guard Eric Ayala had a chance to help the Terps get closer. Following a 3-point miss by Seton Hall, Ayala drove to the basket but overshot, and McKnight scored on a tough drive, was fouled and made the free throw.
After cutting the deficit back to seven, 43-36, on a 3-pointer with a little over four minutes left, Cowan forced a turnover. But he quickly gave up the ball, leading to another 3-point play by McKnight, who took up much of the slack left by Powell, who is out indefinitely after suffering a concussion last week at Rutgers.
