No. 13 Maryland battled back in the second half, but dropped a 56-53 decision to No. 7 Tennessee on Sunday in the 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational at Barclays Center. Down by as many as 21 points, the Terps pulled within two with 24 seconds left in the game, but were unable to pick up its biggest comeback win in almost 20 years.

Jahmir Young led the Terps (8-2) with 18 points. Over the last three games, Young has been a scoring machine for the Terps—scoring 24 points against No. 16 Illinois, 17 at Wisconsin, and then 18 tonight against the No. 7 Vols to average 19.7.

Maryland trailed by as many as 21 late in the first half, but cut that deficit to as small as two in the second half as the Terps shot 50 percent (14-of-28) while holding the Vols to 29.6 percent from the field (8-of-27) over the final 20 minutes. 

A missed Tennessee free throw with 22 seconds left gave the Terps a chance down two. Young penetrated and found some open space for a floater on the left side, but wasn't able to convert. Maryland fouled the Volunteers after the miss and they split at the line, giving Maryland one more chance down three. Young got a three-ball off, but it did not fall and the Terps were not able to complete the comeback. 

The Volunteers (9-1) were led by Zakai Zeigler and his 12 points. 

Maryland was seeking its largest comeback since a 21-point comeback in the 2004 ACC Tournament, an 85-82 win over NC State on the way to the ACC Tournament Championship behind John Gilchrist.

The game marked the first meeting between the two teams since the 1984 Great Alaska Shootout which Maryland won 72-49.

Willard's Take

"This team is resilient. They're a good group to coach, I'm not happy with them now obviously. I think the biggest thing we've got to work on is, obviously, end of game kind of stuff. I think we have to get better at that and just clean up what we want to do and how we want to do it…I'm proud of how they're playing, where we are and what we've gotten to. I just need to get them back in the gym and be able to practice a little bit.

Breaking Down The Action

• Maryland held the Volunteers to 1-for-11 from the floor in the opening five minutes of play thanks to stifling defense, but were unable to cash in, going 1-of-6 from the floor on the offensive side.
• After an 8-0 run for Tennessee pushed the early Vol lead to 9-2, Hart responded with a triple from the wing to snap the early cold stretch for the Terps.
• Tennessee used an 18-5 run to build out a 17-point lead, 27-10, before Young hit his first triple of the game at the 4:08 mark.
• Maryland scored the final four points of the first half trailing 34-17 at the intermission.
• The Terps made it an 8-0 run spanning the break with the first four points of the second half thanks to a lay-up from Young and a floater by Scott, cutting the Terps' deficit to 13 at 34-21. 
• Maryland's 12-0 run brought Maryland within four at 45-41 with 7:59 left in the second half on a Scott jumper in the lane. The Terps' defense buckled down and kept the Vols off the scoreboard for more than four minutes midway through the half.  
• A three-point play by Jahmir Young followed by a pair of free throws from Ian Martinez cut the Vols' lead to just two, marking the closest Maryland had been since four minutes into the game. 

Series History

• This marked the first time the two teams have met since the 1984 Great Alaska Shootout where the Terps won 72-49.
• Tennessee now leads the all-time series 3-2 with Maryland winning the 1984 and 1980 meetings.
• In the win over Tennessee at the Great Alaska Shootout, Terrapin great Len Bias scored 25 points while adding 10 rebounds.
• The 1980 meeting was an 86-75 win over Tennessee in the Greensboro Coliseum in the NCAA Tournament as Greg Manning Sr., scored a game-high 28 points.

Up Next

• Maryland will return to the XFINITY Center to host No. 19 UCLA this Wednesday, Dec. 14 (9 p.m., FS1).