After getting stumbled by Rhode Island’s defense and sloppy play early on, No. 7 Maryland men’s basketball decided to slow things down. The Terps passed methodically in-and-out of the paint and grabbed an offensive rebound before Anthony Cowan Jr. found Eric Ayala for a three, shortening the Rams’ lead to 28-25 with 3:26 left in the first half.
Maryland was locked in on defense on the next play, forcing a missed shot before Ayala once again came up clutch, this time with a smooth move for a layup in the paint. The Xfinity Center crowd roared with the game within one at the under-four timeout — thanks to a 15-4 Terps’ run.