By Danny Chung-A-Fung

On Super Bowl Sunday, pizza delivery drivers are expected to be in high demand as fans order their food for the big game.

Maryland men’s basketball guard Diggy Coit, a former pizza delivery driver himself, was delivering on Sunday, but it wasn’t on the roads — it was on the hardwood in Minneapolis.

Coit scored 29 points off the bench to snap Maryland’s four-game losing streak in a 67-62 win over Minnesota.

“I think the resilience of our guys today showed up in the scoreboard,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “It’s hard to overcome when an opponent makes 14 threes, particularly when you’re on the road. But I thought the fight was as good as it’s been in a long, long time, so I’m very happy that the result is what it was.”

Maryland (9-14, 2-10 Big Ten) typically has success when facing Minnesota (11-13, 4-9 Big Ten). The Terps entered Sunday with a 17-3 all-time record against the Golden Gophers. 

Despite having a 21% chance to win according to KenPom, Maryland continued its dominance against the Gophers, closing out its first conference game decided by single digits this season. 

Minnesota was coming off an upset of No. 10 Michigan State at home on Wednesday, and early on, the threes were flying left and right. 

Isaac Asuma was on fire for the Golden Gophers, with 12 points in the first half, all from behind the arc. Bobby Durkin had three three-pointers of his own, totaling seven three-pointers for the Gophers in the first half.

Darius Adams scored nine first-half points, including a breakaway dunk off a steal early in the first half. Coit closed the first half on a personal 6-0 run, a sign of what was to come in the second half. 

Head coach Buzz Williams defended his decision to start Collin Metcalf over Coit, saying it allowed them to have some size against the Gophers.

“Their offense is very unique,” Williams said. “It gives us some level of more potential physicality,” Williams said. “I thought [associate head coach Devin Johnson]’s plan was spot on in the different coverages we had.”

Despite being down only one point at the break, the stats were not in their favor. Maryland had been 1-13 when trailing at halftime before this afternoon.

Both teams went back and forth to start the second half, with Minnesota getting to a six-point lead with 9:43 left in the second half. 

Then Coit took over. He scored 20 of the last 27 points for the Terps, including the go-ahead three and the game-clinching free throws. 

With 31.7 seconds left, Coit received the ball from Darius Adams out of bounds and got his defender in the air, allowing him the separation needed to hit a step-back three-pointer on the left wing to give the Terps a one-point advantage. That would prove to be the dagger in the Golden Gophers’ hearts.

Coit once again went on a run of his own to close out the game, this time a 7-0 run, while the defense kept Minnesota without a field goal for the final three minutes. 

For a Maryland team having a disastrous season and ranked as the worst power-conference team in the country according to the NET, getting a win was huge. 

Despite not playing a close game since its overtime victory over Mount Saint Mary’s on Nov. 19 and not being favored to win a game the rest of the season, the Terps earned a much-needed win.