Maryland vs. Georgetown: Score and Reaction from Gavitt Tip-Off 2016

Taking advantage of the Georgetown Hoyas' complete mental breakdown in the final 30 seconds, the Maryland Terrapins stole a 76-75 victory at the Verizon Center on Tuesday. 

Up 73-68 with 29 seconds remaining, the Hoyas committed a foul that Maryland turned into two free throws. Rodney Pryor slipped and was called for traveling on the ensuing inbound pass, and Isaac Copeland was called for a foul away from the ball on Maryland's inbound pass. 

Mike Wise of ESPN's The Undefeated asked a question many Hoyas fans in the Verizon Center were wondering:

Anthony Cowan made both of his free throws to make it a 73-72 game with 18 seconds left. Tre Campbell was fouled for Georgetown on the inbound pass to extend the lead back to three points. 

Melo Trimble got the deficit back down to one with an easy layup, and again Georgetown hurt itself when Campbell stepped on the sideline to give the Terps the ball back with 7.6 seconds remaining. L.J. Peak was called for a foul on Trimble as he tried to steal the inbound pass. 

Trimble hit both of his free throws to give Maryland a lead. Jagan Mosely tried to give the Hoyas a victory with a drive to the basket, but Kevin Huerter blocked the attempt to secure the Terps' victory. 

FS1 provided the highlight of that final play:

Both teams struggled to get their offense going in the first half. Maryland shot 38 percent from the field, including 4-of-16 from three-point range. Georgetown had no rhythm with the basketball in the first 20 minutes, shooting just 29 percent, but managed to keep the score tied at 31 by drawing fouls and hitting free throws.  

Peak was the star of the second half for Georgetown. He scored seven consecutive points for the team at one point that helped give the Hoyas a 54-49 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining. He finished with 21 points in defeat. 

Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon grew frustrated in the second half, even drawing a technical foul at one point. One source of annoyance likely stemmed from the disparity in foul shots, with Georgetown going 37-of-42 from the charity stripe.

By comparison, Maryland only had 22 free-throw attempts. Some of the disparity was because Georgetown played a more aggressive style, routinely driving to the basket looking for contact.  

On the FS1 broadcast, Bill Raftery summed up Turgeon's technical as only he can, via ESPN 980's Tim Murray:

Alex Parker of ABC 7 in Washington, D.C., provided highlights of the discussion between Turgeon and the officials:

Georgetown rarely has an explosive offense under head coach John Thompson III, so it needs to be on point defensively to win games. The Hoyas kept the game close early because of key defensive moments like this steal from Isaac Copeland, via FS1:

The pace would pick up for both teams in the second half. Trimble was invisible in the first half yet still managed to finish with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Justin Jackson was terrific off the bench for the Terrapins, scoring 17 points and shooting 3-of-4 from three-point range. The freshman came to Maryland with plenty of hype as a 4-star prospect, with this scouting report Scout.com:

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Although he's still figuring out exactly what his long-term role and position will be, Jackson boasts outstanding physical gifts. He has speed, quickness, length, a solidly proportioned frame and at times surprises with his scoring polish. He'll need to further develop an offensive identity and to become more aggressive, but there's no disputing his talent.

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Starting on the bench, its evident Turgeon doesn't quite know what Jackson's long-term role is going to be at this early stage of his career. If he keeps having performances like the one he did Tuesday, it won't take long to figure things out. 

Corey Evans of HoopSeen.com was impressed with all three of Maryland's key freshmen in the game:

Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com also gave praise to the Terps' young talent after the stunning victory:

This has not been an ideal start to the season for Maryland. The Terps fell out of the AP Top 25 because of an uninspired six-point win over the American Eagles in the opener. Tuesday's performance didn't look like an inspiring effort until the last-minute miracle, but a win is a win right now, and there's plenty of talent for Turgeon to work with.

For Georgetown, which missed the NCAA tournament last year with its first losing record since 2003-04, this is the kind of loss Thompson's group needs to shake off in a hurry. The Hoyas had things well in hand in the final minute before multiple mental gaffes completely threw them off their game. 

The Big East boasts the defending national champions in Villanova and another Top 10 team in Xavier. The Hoyas can't afford to dig themselves in an early hole before conference play even begins.