Maryland Basketball: Takeaways from Terps thrilling comeback win over Minnesota

Maryland basketball pulled off a thrilling comeback win over the Minnesota Gophers on Wednesday night, keeping them atop the Big Ten standings as the conference race winds down.

Maryland Basketball knows a thing or two about nail-biting games, as they have been involved in quite a few this season. On Wednesday night, the Terps picked up an unlikely win in a game they were once trailing by much as 17 points. Mark Turgeon’s squad could do nothing to slow down the scoring onslaught of Daniel Oturu and Marcus Carr, who combined for an impressive 47 points in the Gopher’s loss.

Despite not being able to slow down Minnesota’s offense, the Terps kept up with an incredible effort on the offensive glass (20 offensive rebounds) and continued aggression when driving to the rim (22 free throw attempts). Maryland worked hard to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, knowing that they have an incredibly tough three-game stretch (Michigan State Rutgers, Michigan) to close the season.

Maryland sits at 13-4 in the Big Ten entering Friday morning, two games ahead of Penn State and Michigan State in the standings. A loss to Minnesota–a very talented team but nonetheless one near the bottom of the standings–would’ve been a significant blow to Maryland’s chances to hang onto the  Big Ten regular-season title and killed their chances at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, the Terps are riding high. If they finish out Big Ten play at 16-4 in arguably the strongest conference in the nation, it will be hard to argue against their case for a No. 1 seed in the tourney, though the numbers may feel differently. The most important thing is that the Terps focus on controlling what they can, and that means winning every game the rest of the way. Wednesday night looked like a surefire loss with Maryland trailing by 16 at the half and the fact that they pulled out a win showcases a mental fortitude that bodes well for their national title aspirations.