Diggy Coit was Maryland men’s basketball’s offense in the second half of its game against Mount St. Mary’s. Whenever the Terps needed a bucket, the 5-foot-11 graduate guard rose to the occasion.
Down by three with 12 seconds remaining, the Terps were at risk of a devastating upset.
But Coit stepped up with his biggest shot of the night. He received the ball off an inbounds pass with a defender in his face. It didn’t matter. Without any hesitation, Coit fired a deep shot from well behind the arc. It was pure net, sending Xfinity Center into a frenzy.
Coit’s 3-pointer with time winding down forced overtime. Maryland rallied late in the extra period, with six of the final nine points. But it was Coit’s 41-point explosion — the most ever scored by a Terp at the Xfinity Center — that fueled Maryland to a 95-90 thrilling victory.
“We got to win this game. That’s all I’m thinking about,” Coit said. “Big performances and moments like this don’t really matter if you don’t win. … I just had it going tonight, and I know that’s going to be somebody else [next time].”
Coit has been one of the few bright spots for Maryland to start the season. His aggressiveness is what gave the Terps some life offensively, especially late in the game. Coit scored 24 of Maryland’s 37 points in the second half to send the game into overtime.
He added seven more in overtime to close it out and etch his name in the Maryland record books. His 41 points are tied for third-most in program history and put him with Terps’ greats like Len Bias and Greivis Vásquez.
But Maryland’s final moments of regulation and into overtime were far from the product on the court in the first half.
Outside of Maryland’s home opener against Georgetown, the team’s first three games at home were expected to be a chance for the new roster to mesh on the court in live action. Three relatively weak mid-majors were considered straightforward victories.
But it’s been far from that, mostly due to an injury bug that seemingly grows every game. Key injuries from Solomon Washington and Myles Rice left the Terps’ bench depleted. Payne and George Turkson’s absence on Wednesday only left Maryland’s frontcourt without much to work with.
“Credit to Diggy, but also a credit to those eight guys that played in a completely different role than they’ve ever played,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “We’ve played five games, and every game there’s been a different role assigned on things that we can’t control.”
The lack of quality down low has shown early on. For a Buzz Williams led squad, rebounding has never been a problem. That aspect has been the Terps’ biggest glaring issue during nonconference play.
Maryland entered the game with a rebounding margin just over one board per game — the 154th-worst mark in the country. But the Terps were the inferior team on the glass, allowing the Mountaineers to corral the 12 offensive boards. That resulted in a dozen second-chance points.
While Maryland’s small-ball lineup found success offensively, it left the Terps prone to difficulties with rebounding.
But Mount St. Mary’s presence on the glass was not its only form of offense. The Mountaineers jacked up three-pointers on seemingly every possession. It paid off. The Mountaineers nailed six shots from behind the arc in the opening half, relying on a steady scoring diet from seven different contributors.
Despite shooting just 35.7 percent from the field in the first half, the Terps took an eight-point lead into halftime.
It was the free throws that kept Maryland afloat despite its lackluster offensive performance. The Terps have gotten to the charity stripe at an impressive clip this season. That remained true on Wednesday. Maryland shot 20 first-half free throws and drained 16 of them.
The Terps’ 8-point lead at the break was far from secure, though. While Maryland’s advantage grew to 13 just over five minutes into the second half, its half-court offensive struggles let Mount St. Mary’s linger around longer than it should’ve.
The next five minutes were likely the Terps’ worst stretch of the season.
A 19-3 run from the Mountaineers quickly silenced the small but loud crowd at the Xfinity Center. With Mount St. Mary’s leading by three points, Maryland had its work cut out to avoid a massive upset.
But the Terps couldn’t get the defensive stops to put together a run. The Mountaineers’ impressive three-point shooting — they finished 17-of-36 from deep — led to Maryland facing a six-point deficit.
“I think the thing that has hurt us the most, other than defensive rebounding percentage, is the percentage of times the opponent has gotten to the paint,” Williams said. “We’ve made some adjustments to try to protect the rim more. When you make those adjustments, you’re probably giving up something. You’re not going to be able to do both.”
Then, Coit took over. The 5-foot-11 Kansas transfer scored Maryland’s next 10 points to take a slim lead. That was the Terps’ only offensive option in the second half.
On his fourth team in five seasons, the graduate guard had a night to remember and helped the Terps escape from the depths of a near-devastating loss.
