Like so many of his team’s games this season, it came down to the final seconds. Turgeon and his players mobbed each other as Maryland was the second-to-last team to be announced on Sunday, locking down the No. 6 seed in the West Region. The Terrapins will meet 11th-seeded Xavier in Orlando on Thursday, although that matchup was briefly an afterthought on Sunday afternoon.

“My heart was coming through my sweater. You never know. There’s no guarantees. I was 99 percent sure we were in,” said Turgeon, who has led his team to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. “The last two years our name has popped up quickly and it was kind anti-climactic. Today was fun … I didn’t even know we were playing Xavier for probably a minute. We were going crazy.”

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The excruciating wait for Maryland began after Friday night’s 72-64 loss to Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament at Verizon Center. But even though that setback marked a sixth loss in 10 games, Maryland had long believed it was a near-certainty to make the NCAA tournament. As the team gathered at Turgeon’s home to watch the selection show Sunday evening, they felt confident in the resume that they had built, which included a RPI rank of 34th and 11 quality wins away from home.

Xavier (21-13) earned an at-large bid after losing to Creighton in the Big East tournament semifinals this weekend and has just four wins since Feb. 8, three of which came against lowly DePaul. Should Maryland advance, it would face the winner between No. 3 seed Florida State and No. 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday.

Maryland, which went 6-4 against teams ranked in the RPI’s top 60, was among seven Big Ten teams to make the field. Purdue is the league’s highest seed as the fourth seed in the Midwest Region, while Minnesota is the No. 5 seed in the South. Michigan, which won the Big Ten tournament over Wisconsin on Sunday, is the No. 7 in the Midwest, while the Badgers are slotted as the No. 8 seed in the East. Northwestern, making its first NCAA tournament appearance in school history, is the No. 8 seed in the West. Michigan State is the No. 9 seed in the Midwest.

Despite its late-season struggles, Maryland was still a safe bet to reach the tournament after a 20-2 start, the best in school history. That run included a last-second win over Oklahoma State in early December — the Cowboys are the No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region — followed by league road wins over Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State. The Terrapins’ most impressive win in February came on the road at Northwestern, the team that humbled the Terrapins in front of a de facto home crowd in the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday night at Verizon Center.

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But while that letdown is certainly not an encouraging sign for a young team at this point in the season, Maryland’s overall body of work on neutral courts and in road games suggests it can be a dangerous team entering the NCAA tournament. The Terrapins hold a 11-3 record away from its home court, which included neutral site wins over Kansas State and Richmond at the Barclays Center Classic in November. It also carried a 7-2 road record in conference play.

“It’s the hardest thing to do in college basketball, is win on the road. And I think we were rewarded for it,” Turgeon said. “I said all along I thought we were going to a six [seed].”

Maryland also won its fair share of close games — it claimed 10 wins by six points or less this season — that kind of magic has been hit or miss over the final six weeks of the season. Only one of those close victories — the 63-60 win over Michigan State in the regular season finale — has come after February 4. That win was only sealed after a last-second three-pointer from junior guard Melo Trimble, who is hoping he can impart some of postseason knowledge on his younger teammates after the loss to Northwestern on Friday night.

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Half of Maryland’s 10-man rotation has NCAA tournament playing experience, including Trimble, who has averaged 17.8 points and 6.1 rebounds over five career games in the Big Dance. Along with freshman starters Anthony Cowan Jr., Kevin Huerter and Justin Jackson, senior forward L.G. Gill will also be playing in his first tournament after transferring from Duquesne last spring.

While this is the lowest-seeded team that Trimble has played on over the past three years — Maryland was a No. 4 seed in 2015 and a No. 5 seed in 2016 — this still is perhaps the most surprising landing spot for the Terrapins, who woke up Sunday morning to find most bracketologists had them pegged as a No. 7 seed or lower.