COLLEGE PARK, Md. _ Maryland seemed to have the basketball gods on its side in the final minute of Saturday's game against No. 23 Purdue at Xfinity Center.
Then the gods abandoned the No. 17 Terps, who saw their seven-game Big Ten winning streak come to an end with a 73-72 loss in a game that they trailed for less than a minute total.
After junior guard Melo Trimble missed a short jumper with 16 seconds left, two free throws by freshman guard Carsen Edwards with 2.1 seconds left put Purdue ahead by one.
After a long inbounds pass from freshman wing Kevin Huerter sailed over senior center Damonte Dodd's head, Purdue center Isaac Haas was called for traveling with 0.5 seconds left. But a 3-pointer by Huerter at the buzzer was long.
It was a disappointing end for a sellout crowd that seemed on the verge of celebration several times.
The last time came after Trimble's drive with under a minute left was blocked by sophomore forward Caleb Swanigan, and the ball found its way back to Trimble, who got up a shot and was fouled with 55 seconds left.
It was Swanigan's fifth foul. The star sophomore had led the Boilermakers back from a 12-point deficit in the second half, finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds, his 20th double-double of the season.
After Trimble's free throws gave Maryland (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten) a 72-69 lead, Purdue (19-5, 8-3) cut its deficit to one on a pair of free throws by Isaac Haas with 38 seconds left.
Trimble then missed a 12-foot pull-up jumper with 16 seconds left in the game _ and more importantly eight seconds left on the 30-second shot clock. It helped give the Boilermakers a better chance, one that did the Terps in.
Edwards, who had not scored in the second half after scoring 10 points in the first half, was fouled by freshman forward Justin Jackson going for a drive. Edwards' two free throws proved to be the difference.
Trimble finished with 22 points, shooting 14-for-15 from the free-throw line, for his 10th 20-point effort of the season. Huerter finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Junior center Michal Cekovsky added 10 points and a career-high six blocked shots.
After leading by nine early in the game and by two at halftime, Maryland stretched its lead to double digits on a free throw by freshman guard Anthony Cowan with 14:13 left.
The Terps took their biggest lead, 52-40, when Cekovsky found Huerter for a monster dunk that led to a Purdue timeout.
The Boilermakers answered.
With an 11-0 run, Purdue pulled to within a point, 52-51, on a 3-pointer by reserve wing Ryan Cline. Purdue proceeded to take its first lead of the second half, 60-58, with 6:37 remaining.
Maryland responded, however, with the next seven points in a row. With the Terps ahead 63-60, Haas was assessed a technical for complaining after a foul on Trimble.
Trimble made one of the two technical free throws, and then both ends of a one-and-one for a 65-60 lead. But Purdue scored six straight, the last on a 3 by junior guard P.J. Thompson to put the Boilermakers ahead, setting up the back-and-forth finish.
Led by Dodd, the Terps jumped out to an 11-2 lead and forced Purdue coach Matt Painter to call timeout before the under-16-minute television stoppage.
Dodd scored five points off the bat, twice using his height to grab offensive rebounds over Swanigan, who was pulled in favor of Haas when Painter called timeout.
Leading 16-8 after a mid-range jumper by reserve wing Jared Nickens and 18-11 after a lob-and-layup by reserve forward L.G. Gill off a pass from Trimble, the Terps went cold.
Purdue, which came in as the Big Ten's top 3-point shooting team, finally started hitting from deep.
A 3-pointer by Dakota Mathias cut Maryland's lead to one, 27-26, with 5:35 to go in the first half. The Boilermakers had a couple of chances to take the lead, but finally drew even at 34 on a 3-pointer by Thompson in the final minute.
The Terps regained the lead when Trimble found Cekovsky for a layup. Cekovsky was fouled, but missed the free throw. He then followed it up with a vicious weakside block on a drive by Edwards.
Edwards led the Boilermakers with 10 points in the first half, while Swanigan added nine. Three Terps _ Dodd, Jackson and Trimble _ had six points each in the first 20 minutes. Trimble also had four assists and three turnovers. Huerter scored just three points, but had five rebounds and two assists.
