Jalen Smith, No. 9 Maryland Upset by Unranked Rutgers 78-67 in Big Ten Play

March has officially arrived in college basketball, and it has taken down another ranked team.

Three days after blowing an opportunity to win the Big Ten outright, No. 9 Maryland crumbled at Rutgers on Tuesday, 78-67.

Jacob Young came off the bench to score 17 points for the Scarlett Knights, while Montez Mathis added 15 points. Maryland's Anthony Cowan Jr. led the Terps with 19.

The timing couldn't have been any worse for Maryland, either. Shortly before the final buzzer went off at Rutgers Athletic Center, co-Big Ten leader No. 16 Michigan State finished off a 19-point come back on the road at Penn State.

The Terps have now dropped three of their last four games with Tuesday being just the second time this season they have lost back-to-back in the conference. The slide may very well cost them the league title. Maryland (23-7, 13-6 in Big Ten) plays at home against No. 25 Michigan in the regular-season finale on Sunday a few hours before MSU hosts No. 19 Ohio State.

A loss to the Wolverines and the Terps will cede control of their title hopes. A victory would mean they still have to sweat out an MSU game to see whether they win the title outright.

It didn't have to be this way.

Maryland had already beaten Rutgers once this year, pulling off a 56-51 victory in College Park in early February. Revenge came quickly Tuesday. The Knights raced out to a 19-8 lead midway through the first half. The last Maryland lead came three minutes after the start of the game when the score was 4-2. For the next 37 minutes, the Terps were chasing Rutgers, at one point down by 21.

Maryland shot just 38.5 percent from the field for the game, including 6-of-32 behind the arc.

No. 23 Illinois (which still has two games remaining against Ohio State and No. 18 Iowa), and No. 24 Wisconsin (still to play Northwestern and Indiana) are both just a half-game back of Michigan State and Maryland. All four could share the league title provided they each win out.