Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kedrian Johnson's 3-point shot attempt at the buzzer fell short as West Virginia lost 67-65 to Maryland in an NCAA Tournament first-round game at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
Maryland, leading 64-59 with less than three minutes remaining, was unable to put the Mountaineers away at the free throw line. Julian Reese missed a pair with 2:45 to go, and after Tre Mitchell's basket with 8.4 seconds remaining reduced WVU's deficit to 66-65, Jahmir Young was fouled with 4.7 seconds on the clock.
 
He made his first but missed his second, giving West Virginia an opportunity to either tie or win it.
 
Yet the best look Johnson could get was a running 3 from the far side of the court near the NCAA logo that failed to draw iron.
 
That miss spoiled a career high 27-point performance for Johnson, who was 8-of-13 from the floor and made all seven of his free throw attempts.

"Every shot I took today, I thought it had a chance to go in," Johnson said. "I saw opportunities. Most teams play my drives, so I just step back and shot the ball. When I had the opportunity to drive, I took it to the basket, got fouled, and finished it."
 
During one stretch in the second half, Johnson almost single handedly turned a seven-point deficit into a six-point West Virginia lead. Three straight times down the floor, the senior guard made and-one baskets, including a four-point play when he was fouled by Ian Martinez while attempting a 3. Johnson's free throw put WVU ahead 41-38, and the lead grew to six when Seth Wilson hit a difficult 3 from right in front of West Virginia's bench.
 
After Erik Stevenson's only 3 of the game gave West Virginia a 59-56 lead, Maryland quickly tied it when Donta Scott was left wide open for a triple.
 
The momentum turned in Maryland's favor moments later when West Virginia was unable to come up with a 50-50 ball near midcourt that wound up in Hakim Hart's hands underneath the basket for a dunk. Two Young free throws with 1:36 left gave the Terps a 66-61 lead in a contest that featured scoring spurts and lots of fouls. 
 
West Virginia began the game on a 16-4 run and led 19-6 on Joe Toussaint's corner 3. Maryland (22-12) answered by scoring 16 of the game's next 18 points, and finished the half on a 26-11 run to take a 32-30 halftime lead.
 
After Toussaint's 3 with 10:14 left, West Virginia made only three field goals for the remainder of the half – a Johnson wing 3 with 4:51 left, a Johnson jumper with 2:49 to go and a Stevenson fallaway jumper with 1:07 remaining.
 
West Virginia used a 13-0 run early in the second half to retake the lead, and led 51-43 with 11:27 left on Mitchell's layup. Here, Maryland answered with a 9-0 run to take back the lead on Hart's basket.
 
In between, West Virginia center Jimmy Bell Jr. picked up his fifth foul and WVU's backup big James Okonkwo was playing with four fouls. That meant reserve center Patrick Suemnick was required to log heavy minutes with No. 3 center Mohamed Wague out with a leg injury.

"Our up-front depth took a hit when we lost Mo for the year. He was our best shot-blocker. So losing him hurt us," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "I got to be careful what I say, I guess. But I'll just leave it at that."

Senior forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. also spent a good portion of the second half on the bench after injuring his shoulder. He did return at the end.
 
A combined 43 fouls were called on both teams, although Maryland managed to avoid any disqualifications.

"We were a little careless with the ball and they made shots," Huggins said. "They started backing us in. We didn't match up very well with them when they started backing us in. It wasn't a good matchup for us."

Reese led a balanced Terrapin scoring attack with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Hart contributed 15, Scott 11 and Young 10 for Maryland, which advances to Saturday to play the winner of today's second game between tournament overall No. 1 seed Alabama and 16^th-seeded Texas A&M- Corpus Christi.
 
Tre Mitchell was the only other WVU player to reach double figures with 13.
 
West Virginia shot just 39.3%, making 22 of its 56 field goal attempts. Stevenson, WVU's leading scorer averaging 15.5 points per game, was only able to connect on 4 of his 17 field goal attempts with many of those either off balanced or with a hand in his face.
 
Maryland shot 51.1%, hitting 23 of its 45 field goals, and out-shot WVU at the free throw line, 15 to 13. West Virginia had a 35 to 29 edge on the glass and had one fewer turnover than Maryland's 13.