Maryland men’s basketball looked lost against Rutgers in the first half. It committed 14 turnovers and scored just 20 points, trailing by 19 points at the break.

The Terps then went on a 20-2 run in over eight minutes, putting it ahead for the first time all game. That lead only lasted for just over three minutes.

Another late push gave Diggy Coit a chance to give Maryland the lead, but his shot was off, sealing the 69-65 loss at Xfinity Center.

“I was caught off guard in the first half,” Maryland head coach Buzz Williams said. “I thought the second half group was much more like what we had seen the last couple of weeks.”

Maryland and Rutgers have been nearly identical this season. Both came in with identical overall records and in conference play, and had gone 2-3 in their last five games. Additionally, they boasted the Big Ten’s worst-scoring offenses.

It was evident why. Both teams shot 40% from the field and under 25% from 3-point range. What separated them was free-throw shooting. Maryland made a respectable 11-of-16 (69%), but Rutgers shot 19-of-23 (83%) from the foul line and made 9-of-10 in the final 30 seconds to seal the game.

Tariq Francis led the way with 19 points for Rutgers and went 10-of-10 from the line. He shot a combined 22-of-23 from the line in their two matchups this season.

Maryland’s disparity on the glass wasn’t enough to overcome its 19 turnovers. The Terps outrebounded the Scarlet Knights 50-26 and 16-5 on the offensive glass — good for its best offensive rebounding percentage of the season — but only scored seven second-chance points.

“If we can create more shot attempts, which we have done over the last three and a half weeks, we need to be able to score it at a higher rate,” Williams said. “The issue is that, combined with giving the ball to the other team 20% of the time … It’s a hard combination.”

Andre Mills and Solomon Washington led Maryland with 15 points each, but neither did it efficiently. Mills shot 6-of-16 while Washington shot 5-of-14.

For the second time in three games, Darius Adams spent most of the game on the bench. He played just 10 minutes, and Maryland was outscored by 12 points in that time.

Isaiah Watts and Guillermo Del Pino took those minutes, and the Terps were much better with them on the floor. Del Pino was a plus 12 in his 27 minutes, while Watts was a plus 19 in his 16 minutes despite just three points and fouling out.

“Regardless of age, who plays really hard, who can execute the plan on a consistent basis on both sides of the floor … we want to play the guys that give us the best chance to win,” Williams said. “If you’re down 19 at half, regardless of what’s happening, who can help us on both sides, by playing really hard.”

Maryland had been playing its best basketball of the season in the previous three weeks. It had gone 3-3 in its last six games and showed fight in its losses.

Despite losing to Rutgers in their first matchup on Feb. 15, the Terps closed as 4.5-point home favorites on Sunday.

But the first half was all Rutgers.

Nothing went Maryland’s way. It committed 14 turnovers, which led to 14 Rutgers points as it trailed by as many as 20.

For a stretch, Maryland played a zone defense. Like its last game against Rutgers, it didn’t work. Terp defenders were out of place as Rutgers did whatever it wanted.

Shooters were wide open, the Terps’ guards were getting blown by, forcing help defense to rotate. Rutgers would dish for easy baskets or get fouled, putting George Turkson Jr. and Solomon Washington on the bench with early foul trouble.

Maryland erased that deficit in just nine minutes but failed to hold the lead. The Terps couldn’t overcome the disparity in the turnover battle. Rutgers committed only six on the day and took care of business in the final five minutes.

Three straight buckets inside to give Rutgers a six-point lead with under four minutes to go, and never let Maryland closer than two points to seal it.