JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The crowd stood in unison. Some were silent. Others screamed. The final seconds raced from the clock. Maryland led by one.
After 33 years on the Belmont sideline, Rick Byrd had reached the most important moment of his career.
“I felt really good about the play,” the Bruins coach said.
Belmont star Dylan Windler planted his foot, then sprinted to the rim. A game-winning finish was imminent. The Bruins were heading to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
Freshman Grayson Murphy fired the backdoor pass. And Maryland’s Eric Ayala extended his left arm, ensuring it never got there.

After sneaking into the First Four with the Ohio Valley’s first at-large bid in 32 years, and claiming its first-ever NCAA Tournament win Tuesday, 11th-seeded Belmont missed its chance to become the country’s next mid-major darling after blowing a 12-point lead, and committing the costly last-second turnover in a 79-77 loss to sixth-seeded Maryland at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
The team John Calipari affectionately labeled “the most dangerous team in the country” one day earlier — the NAIA team Byrd took over in 1986, and didn’t join Division I for another 10 years —was heading back to Tennessee to spend at least another 360-something days in the shadows of college basketball.

• Printable NCAA bracket: Complete 2019 March Madness field
“Unless you win the tournament, you lose your last game….and except for one little deflection, I think we’d be playing Saturday,” Byrd said. “There’s no question that in this game that we belonged with a 6-seed from beginning to end. The final score is going to say that they won and they’re going to advance, but once again, we ran a play, it worked, it was all there, and their kid did a great job of getting a hand on the pass, or Dylan is shooting a lay-up or dunking it, and we win….
“They get the win, we get the loss. That doesn’t mean that our performance wasn’t as good as we could ask for.”
Windler’s performance ranked among the best the tournament had witnessed in recent years. The NBA prospect finished with 35 points 11 rebounds, and seven 3’s, leading the Bruins to a double-digit lead in the first half.
But Maryland (23-10) used the superior size and athleticism of future NBA frontliners Bruno Fernando (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Jalen Smith (19 points, 12 rebounds) to open the second half on a 14-0 run, and take an eight-point lead.
From there, the duel was essentially a back-and-forth draw.
“Don’t think we didn’t play well. We played really well to win this game,” said Maryland coach Mark Turgeon, whose team next plays No. 3 LSU. “They’re a heck of a team.”
Maryland’s Darryl Morsell broke a tie on a 3-point with 2:47 remaining, and Smith extended the lead to four on a thunderous slam just over a minute later, but Belmont hit a 3-pointer with one minute to play, before the second-highest scoring team in the nation got the ball back for a program-changing possession.
It ended up in the hands of Morsell, who intercepted Murphy’s pass with 2.5 seconds left, but missed his final free throw, allowing Windler a potential game-winning halfcourt heave as time expired.
Only when it fell short could the Terrapins finally feel safe.
“Is my heart rate like I’m sleeping? No. But I just love it,” Turgeon said. “I just love it. It’s so much fun.”