Rutgers endures blown lead, holds off Maryland for sweep

Tariq Francis scored 19 points as Rutgers pulled off a wild, split-personality Big Ten victory, 69-65, over Maryland, Sunday in College Park, Md.

Darren Buchanan Jr. scored eight of his 14 points in the final eight minutes for the Scarlet Knights (12-17, 5-13), who blew a 20-point lead but gathered themselves late to complete a regular season sweep of the Terrapins.

Jamichael Davis chipped in with 12 points and three steals as Rutgers won for the third time in its last five games and kept its hope alive of avoiding a first-round game in the Big Ten tournament.

After missing 9 of 10 shots during a span of nearly 10 minutes in the second half, the Scarlet Knights rediscovered their offense in the final eight minutes as they scored 22 points.

In the final 27 seconds, Rutgers made nine straight free throws, including four by Francis and three by Davis, to wrap up the win.

The Scarlet Knights are tied with Northwestern for 14th place in the 18-team league. The bottom four finishers in the regular season play in the opening round of the tournament March 10 in Chicago.

Solomon Washington and Andre Mills scored 15 points apiece and Elijah Saunders added 11 points and 14 rebounds to pace Maryland (11-18, 4-14).

Mills and Washington added 10 and seven rebounds apiece to help the Terrapins to a 50-26 edge on the boards that went for naught.

In the opening minutes, Rutgers took a 5-0 lead as Lino Mark drained a 3-pointer and Maryland missed its first five shots.

Midway through the first half, Kaden Powers hit a triple to trigger a 19-4 Scarlet Knights run, which included two steals by Davis that he turned into breakaway baskets.

Francis added eight points during the spree, including the final two at the free-throw line, which gave Rutgers its biggest lead of the game 36-16.

Francis closed the half with a buzzer-beating transition 3 putting the Scarlet Knights up 39-20 at the break.

Rutgers' domination of the period came despite a 27-10 disadvantage on the boards. Maryland had 10 offensive rebounds but turned them into only three second-chance points.

Making a bigger difference in the first half was the turnover margin, 14-1, in favor of the Scarlet Knights.

The Terrapins emerged from the locker room looking like a different team as Saunders and Mills fueled a 20-2 run with 3-pointers.

Washington finished the spree with a three-point play as Maryland took its first lead, 48-47, with 11:26 left, before Rutgers regained its composure.