Maryland vs. Xavier: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2017

The No. 11 Xavier Musketeers punched their ticket to the second round on the strength of a 76-65 win over the sixth-seeded Maryland Terrapins at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. 

Xavier turned in a complete team performance with efficient shooting (50 percent), a sizable rebounding advantage (34-24) and a massive individual showing from the team's star player, Trevon Bluiett.

Maryland had its opportunities. While Xavier ran things early on, Maryland came back behind strong performances from Melo Trimble, Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter, who helped open up a 46-40 lead in the early goings of the second half. 

And then Bluiett happened. 

After struggling in the first half, the explosive guard went off on the Terrapins defense, becoming an offense unto himself. ESPN Stats & Info provided some context to his takeover:

Bluiett finished with 21 points and four steals on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 from deep. 

Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report praised the guard's ability to fill up the stat sheet when he's on:

While the Musketeers star was putting together a mesmerizing performance, Trimble was fading from the spotlight. 

The polarizing Maryland guard struggled mightily in this game. CBS Sports' Seth Davis weighed in on his struggles from beyond the arc:

Trimble finished with just 13 points, three assists and three turnovers on 5-of-15 shooting. 

Xavier got a big boost from Sean O'Mara off the bench. The junior forward had a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds, including 11 points, two rebounds and an emphatic dunk in the first half:

This game was supposed to be a fun matchup between Trimble and Bluiett, but neither guard got off to a great start. Xavier's star guard was 0-of-7 from the field to start the game before making his first basket with just under three minutes left in the first half. 

Neither team came into the tournament playing at its best. Xavier was 3-7 in its final 10 games to close out the season, while the Terps were just 4-6 in that same stretch. Neither team looked all that in sync. 

Maryland especially struggled, scoring just eight points in the first nine minutes. 

Allstate's Mayhem pretty much summed up the Terps' offense early in the game:

Credit: Allstate

Good teams can battle through early struggles, though and that's exactly what Maryland did. Rather than watch the deficit continue to grow, it buckled down and chipped away at the lead. 

Shots started falling for the Terps, and they climbed back to take a 36-35 lead into halftime, which included 10 first-half points from Jackson.

Head coach Mark Turgeon gave credit to the offensive adjustments his team made throughout the half, as they found better looks as the game went on:

The Musketeers will now take on the winner of Florida State and Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday in an attempt to extend their tourney run to a Sweet 16 appearance. Xavier's last tournament run was ended in the second round in 2016. 

Postgame Reaction

After the game, Bluiett gave a look inside the mind of a scorer. He acknowledged the slow start but talked about how little it took for him to get things going in the second half, per Shannon Russell of WCPO.com:

The NCAA March Madness account added a little flair to the guard's highlight reel:

After the rough end to the regular season, Xavier finally showed some of the offense that can make it a dangerous team in the tournament. Head coach Chris Mack gave credit to his guys playing with more freedom, per Russell:

Turgeon—who probably isn't too popular in College Park—made no excuses, giving credit to Xavier for getting hot down the stretch. 

"I thought the better team won tonight," he said, per Mark Viviano of WJZ in Baltimore. "They're the team that played better ... we went in a drought and they got hot."

Should Trimble decide to forego a final season of eligibility and declare for the NBA draft, he didn't say too much about his team's final performance, per Viviano.

"We just didn't make any shots. We got up six and got too relaxed."