College Park, Md. ? Josh Howard sat in front of his locker, sobbing uncontrollably with his head buried in a towel.

Playing with a painful sprained left ankle, Howard had 18 points and 15 rebounds in 25 gritty minutes for No. 20 Wake Forest on Sunday. But the junior forward also made a mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Juan Dixon made a technical foul shot with 1.3 seconds left after Howard called a timeout the Demon Deacons didn’t have, giving No. 2 Maryland a 90-89 comeback victory.

Lonny Baxter scored 25 points and Dixon added 20 for the Terrapins (23-3, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Maryland fell behind midway through the first half, trailed by 12 shortly after halftime and finally regained the lead in the final two minutes.

“We were very fortunate to win that game,” Terrapins coach Gary Williams said. “That’s really the first game we’ve had that’s come down to a last-second situation. It was a good experience for us.”

And an absolute disaster for Howard.

“It was instinct. I could make a million excuses, but I just messed up,” Howard said. “A lot of people have done it. I’m just one of them. The worst thing is that I let down my team.”

The Terrapins led 89-87 before Howard scored in the lane and was fouled with 10.1 seconds left. He botched the free throw, and after Dixon missed a jumper for Maryland, Howard grabbed the rebound and quickly formed a “T” with his hands.

But the Demon Deacons had already used their final timeout, so Howard was slapped with an automatic technical foul. Dixon made the first shot, missed the second, and Wake Forest’s Broderick Hicks was very short a long field goal attempt as time expired.

No. 3 Duke 97, St. John’s 55

Durham, N.C. Â Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer each had 12 points in Duke’s 35-1 run to close the first half and the Blue Devils handed the Red Storm their fourth-worst loss ever.

Michigan State 57, No. 23 Indiana 54

East Lansing, Mich. Â Marcus Taylor scored 16 points, including eight over the final 3:21, and had eight assists as the Spartans (17-10, 8-6 Big Ten) rallied from a 16-point deficit.