Maryland Terrapins Down Spartans In Thriller

It may officially be time for the Big Ten to fear the turtle.

The Maryland Terrapins showed resilience unbecoming of a team their age as they defeated the Michigan State Spartans 68-66 in a double-overtime thriller in East Lansing, Michigan on Tuesday night. Dez Wells hit a game tying three pointer with 2.2 seconds left in regulation to push the game into extra time.

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Wells was aided by freshman Melo Trimble, who added 15 points despite 2-of-13 shooting from the floor. Trimble went 12-of-14 from the free throw line, however, a big reason why Maryland ended up winning this game. As a team,  the Terps hit 26 of their 32 free throws.

While neither team was stellar offensively, Travis Trice had 26 points for Michigan State in a heady effort. Through 50 minutes of play, no other Spartan had even hit double-digits in points.

The Terrapins shot the deep ball terribly, but their ability to get to the foul line 32 times (all in the second half and overtime) was the biggest reason they came out on top.

With Evan Smotryz and Damonte Dodd having fouled out, Wells and Trimble got to the line repeatedly late in the game to stop Michigan State from pulling away.

Overall, the win was huge for Maryland. Playing in arguably the toughest location in the Big Ten, Maryland got their inaugural season in the conference started off right. The Spartans had won over 50 of their previous 56 home games.

Maryland takes their 1-0 conference record home on Saturday to go up against Minnesota.

Quick Hits:

1) Maryland finished 19 of 57 (33%) from the floor. That includes a 4 of 22 performance from behind the arc.

2) The Terps decisively won the battle of the boards, 53-36. Tom Izzo’s teams have long prided themselves on being rebounding forces, so this was very encouraging.

3) Before fouling out (did he actually have 5 fouls?) Dodd gave some valuable minutes. The big finished with 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks. His block of Dawson seemed to really impact the MSU Senior.

4) The Terrapins had 21 turnovers, with Wells having 7.

5) Layman had just 4 shots (2 of 4 from the floor, 0-2 at the line);  but did contribute 9 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

6) Smotrycz had 9 points, and 8 boards off the bench before fouling out.

7) Big game for Jon Graham. 7 points, 5 boards, and a lot of significant minutes.

8) Jared Nickens and Dion Wiley were a combined 0 for 5.

9) Detroit native Richaud Pack had 9 points, and 5 boards. He was 6 for 6 at the line in-front of 40 of his friends and family.

10) He often gets charged with playing ‘hero ball’, but you have to respect Wells’ desire to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line.

11) Michigan State will get a chance for revenge, January 17th at College Park.