COLLEGE PARK, Md. _ The hangover from the season's toughest loss didn't last long.
The Maryland men's basketball team had a perfect antidote for whatever malaise it could have had four days after a crushing last-second defeat at Wisconsin. The Terps came out fast Saturday against Purdue as the ball moved and the shots fell.
Maryland needed its defense too. After seeing what had been an 18-point lead in the first half and a 16-point lead at halftime cut down to just three, the No. 17 Terps locked down the Boilermakers in the last three minutes to hold on for a 57-50 victory.
Sophomore center Jalen Smith led Maryland (14-4, 4-3) with 18 points and 10 rebounds for ninth double-double of the season. Freshman Donta Scott added a career-high 13 points and six rebounds while sophomore wing Aaron Wiggins, in his second game off the bench, added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Junior guard Nojel Eastern led Purdue (10-8, 3-4) with 14 points.
After hitting seven of their first 11 shots to build a 28-10 lead late in the first half, and were still leading 36-20 at halftime, the Terps cooled off considerably in the second half. Maryland missed its last 13 3-point shots overall, including going 0 for 9 after halftime.
There was some obvious angst from the crowd at Xfinity Center when the Boilermakers cut their deficit to three, 53-50, on three free throws by sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovic with 3:52 remaining, but Wiggins found Smith for a dunk with 2:06 left to give the Terps and their fans some room to breathe.
The defense took over from there, as the Boilermakers failed to score on four straight possessions before senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr., who spent most of the first half feeding his teammates, secured the victory with a pair of free throws with 12.5 seconds left.
Cowan finished with just five points, but had a season-high seven assists.
