UH guard Adam Brown banked home a 40-foot 3-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded, but there was no miracle shot to keep the Cougars from falling 89-77 to the Maryland Terrapins Friday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
After finally getting back to the NCAA tournament after an 18-year drought, UH couldn’t continue its dance into March Madness and will return home after being ousted in the first round.
Senior guard Aubrey Coleman led all scorers with 26 points on 9 of 20 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kelvin Lewis added 24 points and Adam Brown had 11 points, including three from behind the arc for the Cougars, who shot a paltry 62.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Jordan Williams paced Maryland with 21 points and 17 rebounds. ACC Player of the Year Greivis Vasquez finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Lewis quickly tied the game at 39 at the start of the second half on a jumper, but Vasquez nailed two free throws to give Maryland a 41-39 lead. The Terrapins never lost the lead after that.
A fast break dunk by Williams and a trey by Adrian Bowie stretched Maryland’s advantage to 55-44 with 16:52 remaining. UH pulled within six on a fast break layup by Lewis, but Landon Milbourne countered and stretched the advantage to 10 at the 15:00 mark. The Terrapins’ lead eventually grew to 14, and although a finger-roll layup by Coleman cut the Cougars’ deficit to 10 points with 1:22 left,it was too little, too late.
