Story By: Andrew Lang
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
It took every minute of regulation and overtime to knock off pesky Mount St. Mary’s tonight, but the Terps finally emerged victorious behind a monster night Diggy Coit.
Coit, who finished with 41 points in 39 minutes on the court was the difference maker when the Terps most needed it in the overtime period. Coit’s performance tonight ties him for third most points in a game in program history. He ties the scoring in a game with Terp greats like Len Bias and Greivis Vásquez.
Coit’s 3-pointer with time winding down forced overtime. Maryland rallied late in the extra period, with six of the final nine points. The Terps also did a much better job in shutting down the three point opportunities in overtime, which were plenty in regulation. The Mount finished shooting 47 percent from long range but were shooting as much as 62 percent midway through the second half.
“You think about your shots, but we got to win this game. That’s all I’m thinking about,” Coit said. “Big performances and moments like this, it really don’t matter if you don’t win, it’s kind of it’ll be another day … I just ended up had it going tonight.”
Quite a few fans could be see exiting Xfinity Center early when it looked like the Terps were going to lose to a program that they were expected to win easily.
“Credit to Diggy, but also a credit to those eight guys that played in a completely different role than they’ve ever played,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “We’ve played five games, and every game there’s been a different role assigned on things that we can’t control.”
One of the biggest stats that stands out is that the Terps led by as many as 13 points, but based on the scoreboard in the second half, it would have been tough to know that Maryland had this game well under control before the Mount unleashed their long-range shooting in the second half.
The big change in this game that Buzz seemed unable to find a way to stop was the runs the Mount was able to create, including a 7-0 run in the second half that lasted more than three minutes, going up 71-66 in the final two minutes of regulation.
This is a much-needed win for the Terps before they head to Las Vegas for two games against UNLV and #13 ranked Gonzaga starting Tuesday.
