It felt like the ball hung in the air for an extra split second out of Darryl Morsell’s hand. The suspense had built through a steady but furious second half-comeback, a final minute that took nearly 20 minutes, and a decisive possession that seemed to drag on forever.
Morsell’s shot fell, and No. 9 Maryland men’s basketball stunned Minnesota, 74-73, after perhaps the most epic comeback in a season littered with them.
The Terps trailed by 17 points in the first half and 16 at halftime. They trailed by 14 points with nine minutes left. They trailed by eight with two minutes to play and still by four with 15 seconds left. They trailed for 39:10 of game time and led for just 24 seconds. But Morsell’s heave fell with 1.9 seconds remaining, and the team improved to 23-5 overall and 13-4 in Big Ten play.
Maryland’s piled up the improbable wins this season. There’s the highway robbery at home against Illinois, and an impressive road comeback against the Illini two months later. There’s the second-half surge at Northwestern. There’s the 7-0 run in the final 1:08 at Indiana, and the 14-0 run in the final 3:08 at Michigan State. All in one season.
