COLLEGE PARK, Md — Ja’Kobi Gillespie flew under the basket and clutched the rebound near the right corner. Maryland’s junior point guard peaked at the clock as it quickly ticked down from nine. Gillespie dashed up the court, settled on the left wing, and fired his sixth 3-point attempt with five seconds left.
Like Gillespie’s five other attempts the ball hit the rim and bounced into the hands of a Spartan player, Jaxon Kohler. Kohler passed the ball immediately to Tre Holloman who took two dribbles and rose up from half court with less than a second remaining. The ball left Holloman’s fingers as the shot clock turned red. The ball floated in the air, on time and on target.
Holloman’s half court heave delivered No. 8 Michigan State (23-5, 14-3 Big Ten) its seventh straight win against No. 16 Maryland (21-7, 11-6 Big Ten) defeating the Terps, 58-55, Thursday night.
“Every day at home the night before the game, that last practice we have the guys go around and everybody gets a shot at a halfcourt shot,” said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. “The last two [practices] Tre has made two of them … I mean I thought that thing was in when it left.”
Holloman’s shot crushed the spirits of a sold out Xfinity Center that just minutes before witnessed Holloman make a mistake that provided the Terps a realistic chance at completing the comeback.
Hollomon stood out of bounds with the ball in hands ready to inbound ahead by a score with less than a minute remaining. Hollomon’s first look was to the right, but Gillespie was in a good position to deny the pass. Hollomon pivoted his focus to the left side where Rodney Rice lurked. Hollomon lofted a pass in Rice’s direction and the sophomore guard picked it off, passing it quickly to Gillespie who was subsequently fouled.
Gillespie hit both of his free throws tying the game at 55, only for Hollomon to earn the ultimate redemption at the end of the game.
“I wanted to get a timeout when we turned it over,” said Izzo. “I just thought we’d bring it up and get a timeout. So, you know, he made a mistake [and] I made a mistake.”
The moment displayed the resiliency of both teams through what Izzo described as a “rock fight.”
Offense was at a premium throughout as both defenses dominated the tempo and flow of the game. Both teams finished the game with shooting percentages well below their season averages and of their 35 combined 3-point attempts only eight went in.
Rice contributed all of Maryland’s four three’s to the tally scoring a game high 20 points — 15 of which came in the second half. Rice was one of three members of Maryland’s famed starting five to end the game with double digit points.
Gillespie finished with 15 points on only two made shots earning 11 of his points from the free throw line. Derik Queen ended with a double-double making only two of his 11 attempts and pulling down 10 rebounds.
The Terps’ nicknamed the “Crab Five” put together their worst shooting performance of the season shooting a combined 33 percent from the floor.
“As I told the team I’m like ‘… this is gonna be a grind out game. It’s not always going to be able to run up and down and make shots, sometimes you have to switch the mold a little bit,’” said Maryland head coach Kevin Willard. “I thought for the most part as bad as we played offensively these guys still brought great effort and gave us a chance to win.”
Michigan State’s offense didn’t fare much better, scoring its lowest point total of the season. The Spartans were led by their freshman guard Jase Richardson with 15 points — leading the team. Richardson was one of two Spartan players to make more than two shots — the other being Holloman.
The Spartans struggled to shoot all night, but it was the little things that delivered them the victory. Michigan State outrebounded the Terps, 45-33, and outscored Maryland in the paint by eight points.
“They got some huge offensive rebounds,” said Willard. “You got to rebound the basketball to be able to get on the break and … I think we gave up four between the eight and the two minute mark which just kind of kills your momentum.”
Nothing came easy for both offenses, especially in a first half that finished, 23-21.
Both offenses struggled to gain any footing against the Big Ten’s second best (Spartans) and third best (Terps) defenses. Both offenses finished the half shooting under 30 percent from the floor and a combined 1-for-15 from 3-point range — the only make being a Rice triple from the right wing.
Despite their lowest scoring half of the season, the Terps entered the break with a two point lead by scoring the go-ahead bucket on a buzzer beating layup from Selton Miguel, capitalizing on Michigan State’s ninth turnover.
The play ended up being the second most exciting buzzer beater of the night.
The loss is big for Maryland because it lowers its chances of earning a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament. The Terps are in a three way tie for the fourth spot — and final double bye position — in the Big Ten standings with Purdue and UCLA. Maryland won its head to head matchup against the Bruins, but lost to Purdue.
The Terps will try to improve on their conference standing when they travel to Pennsylvania to play Penn State on Saturday.
