Error-prone Jackets fall to Terps

College Park, Md. — Georgia Tech was 90 seconds away from evening its ACC record at 1-1.

The Jackets led Maryland by two and had the ball, but they don’t excel in late-game situations.

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AP

Tech freshman Iman Shumpert is bumped by Maryland’s Landon Milbourne (1) as the two go up for a rebound.

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A turnover, a missed one-and-one and a couple of bad shots later, Maryland escaped with a 68-61 victory at Comcast Center.

The Terps won despite shooting 31.5 percent from the field. Tech committed a season-high 28 turnovers, only about half of which stemmed from Maryland’s press.

It was the second maddening ACC loss for the Jackets (9-6, 0-2 ACC), who fell at home to Virginia in overtime. Now Tech must regroup before No. 2 Duke visits Wednesday.

The Jackets could easily be 2-0 in the conference had they executed better on a couple of possessions.

“That’s who we are,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “Right now we’re not good enough to win those type of games.”

Hewitt spoke with disgust about the turnovers.

“I thought the majority came from us being soft with the basketball,” he said. “We were very timid. They trapped us, bumped us a little bit, and the ball squirted out of our hands or we rushed a pass.”

Maryland (12-3, 1-0) erased Tech’s 10-point second-half lead with a 15-2 run. The Jackets steadied themselves and went ahead 61-59 on Gani Lawal’s dunk with 2:14 left.

Following a steal by Alade Aminu, Tech seemed in control. But Aminu missed a hook shot, and Adrian Bowie tied the score with a layup. Bowie deflected a pass off Lance Storrs with 1:09 to go.

Fouled by Iman Shumpert, Bowie sank both free throws. Clinch missed a difficult shot in the lane with a chance to tie. Then, fouled on the rebound, Clinch missed the first of a one-and-one.

Tech still had a chance, down four with 17 seconds left, but Shumpert shot an airball on a 3-point attempt.

Tech’s best player, Lawal (14 points, 10 rebounds), didn’t touch the ball when it mattered most.

“We’ve got to be smarter in the last couple of stretches,” said Clinch, who led Tech with 15 points but missed 11 of 17 shots and had five turnovers. “We should have gotten the ball inside. We got away from our gameplan a little bit.”

Playing without forward Zachery Peacock (stomach ailment), Tech started a three-guard lineup against the small, perimeter-oriented Terps. Storrs started for Peacock and scored three points in 30 minutes. Moe Miller, returning from the broken nose and concussion he suffered Dec. 14, played 12 minutes and scored three points.

Aminu grabbed 17 rebounds and scored 14, but was one of three players with five turnovers. Shumpert had eight turnovers against four assists.

Instead of the slow starts that have plagued Tech, the Jackets ripped off an early 14-5 run to lead 17-9.

With Tech pushing the tempo and passing crisply, Clinch, Shumpert and Nick Foreman buried 3-pointers in rhythm, and Lawal shook the rim with a two-hand dunk.

It was some of the best ball Tech has played.

The Terps missed their first 13 3-point shots before Eric Hayes finally made one late in the half.

Tech led 31-26 at the break after committing an incredible 18 turnovers.

Hayes rallied the Terps, scoring 14 of his game-high 17 after halftime. He finished 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while the rest of the team went 1-for-20.

In beating Georgia on Tuesday, Tech made the hustle plays down the stretch. Late in Saturday’s loss, Maryland was the aggressor.

“We just gave it up toward the end,” Lawal said. “When it’s crunch time, we’ve got to man-up.”

Terps coach Gary Williams was exuberant afterward, his team having overcome 25 percent shooting in the first half.

“That’s the greatest,” he said. “If you don’t like that as a player or as a coach, there’s something wrong with you. It’s not always going to be pretty or anything like that. I was really proud of our team because in the first half, I thought we had really good looks but we couldn’t make a shot.”