October 27, 2017

Maryland basketball storms from behind in 71-70 tightrope win over Oklahoma State

After trailing for all but the first 15 seconds, the Terps spark an 20-4 run in the deciding minutes to claim their sixth win by six points or less

Melo Trimble reacts to Maryland's third win by one point this season in the 71-70 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday night. Photo courtesy of Maryland Terrapins athletics.

COLLEGE PARK — Buried in the scoreboard by double-digits with under 13 minutes to go, it seemed almost certain that Maryland basketball won’t pull of the thrilling feat this time around.

Coming off a 14-point loss to Pittsburgh, and getting considerably outplayed – down 12 to Oklahoma State — the crusader notion of the 2016-2017 season appeared flukier by the dwelling seconds.

Then, they did it again.

A 12-point deficit was wiped away in a matter of six minutes and 44 seconds. Over that span, the Terrapins shut out the country’s second highest scoring offense and then handed the keys to closer Melo Trimble, who sank the game-winning free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining.

So, just as planned, right?

“It’s what we do,” Turgeon said, oozing with confidence after the Terrapins pulled out their third victory by one point on Saturday night, 71-70, over Oklahoma State at Xfinity Center. “We win close games.”

The folklore of this seasons Terrapins (8-1) basketball team forged another decisive chapter on Saturday night – their sixth win by six points or less. Maryland also only led for four minutes and four seconds. But it was all they needed.

Oklahoma State led for over 34 minutes, committed less turnovers (18-15), grabbed more rebounds (44-39) and had more second chance points (17-13).

Outside of seasoned veterans Trimble and Damonte Dodd, three freshman – Anthony Cowan, Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter – anchor majority of the playing time, combining for 80 of the 200 total allocated minutes.

“It’s rare,” Turgeon said. “See how many people are playing three freshman 30 minutes into the game and are 8-1.”

Maryland led only once in the first half – when Cowan made the game’s first point on one free throw 15 seconds into the game. After that, the Terrapins didn’t regain the lead until the momentous 13-0 run with 6:27 to go.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” Trimble said of the tight-rope finishes. “Just to be in that situation, a close game towards the end. … It’s good for us going through this right now.”

The Cowboys led by as many as 11 in the first half. A 9-0 run fueled by a Cowan layup, Dion Wiley 3-pointer, Trimble layup and a Dodd dunk drew Maryland to within two with 5:07 left in the first. They trailed by six, with 13 turnovers, at halftime.

In the second half, only five turnovers were committed, and was “the difference” in Turgeon’s view on another white-knuckle finish.

Jackson’s put-back and Dodd’s thunderous slam with 11:05 and 9:58 to go sparked the deciding 13-0 run that also featured a bucket from Jaylen Brantley (12 points off the bench), a put-back from Dodd and free throws Jackson and Huerter.

Maryland pushed their lead to 68-64 after free throws from Jackson, a three-point play by Brantley and a Dodd jumper, who accounted for seven of the Terrapins’ 20 points in the 20-4 run from the 11:05 mark to the 2:20 mark.

“He’s one of my favorite players,” said Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood said of Dodd. “He impacts the game.”

Trimble finished with a team-high 13 points on 4-for-12 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. Dodd had 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting and eight rebounds. Cowan added 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting and five rebounds. Wiley notched five rebounds.

Jawun Evans had a game-high 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting for the Cowboys.

Maryland shot 41 percent from the floor on 24-for-59 shooting. Oklahoma State (7-2) also shot 41 percent on 27-for-66 shooting.

“This group of mine, it’s amazing what they do,” Turgeon said. “All these young, kids they keep battling. … We kept coming, we kept coming. Everybody in our circle, our team, knew we were going to win the game.”

Maryland will host Howard on Wednesday, December 7.

“We have to get better, we have to get better,” Turgeon said. “But we just keep figuring out how to win games. We’re going to gain a lot of confidence from this.”

About Kyle McFadden 339 Articles
Kyle McFadden is a graduate from Linganore High School's Class of 2014, a sports junkie and general news-hound. He got his start as a sports writer in January 2014 for Linganore's student-run newspaper The Lance, where he wrote 13 articles. McFadden then launched his own blog in October 2014 called The Beltway Dispatch covering collegiate, local high school and professional sports. Formally known as The Beltway Dispatch, McFadden and Evan Engelhard merged respective platforms in June 2015 to make what is now Maryland Sports Access. With baseball, basketball and golf experience, McFadden brings ample knowledge to the helm of MSA. McFadden covers a wide variety of sports in football, baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and specializes in the collegiate and high school levels. McFadden volunteers his time at Damascus Road Community Church -- serving as a mentor to the youth, basketball coach at the varsity and junior varsity levels, and leads a small group of high school sophomores every Wednesday night. Although he's only been around journalism since January 2014, he's a high school sports reporter for The Baltimore Sun and freelancer for The Frederick News-Post. McFadden's work has also appeared in DMV newspapers The Aegis, The Capital Gazette, The Daily Times (Delmarva Now), The Hometown Observer, Howard County Times, Germantown Pulse and The Towson Times. He's also won two Mike Powell Excellence in Journalism awards and has appeared on The Best of SNO, which showcases top student work of high school and college journalists. McFadden currently studies at Frederick Community College and plans to transfer to the University of Maryland in the fall of 2018 to work on a bachelor's degree in journalism with aspirations to be a national college basketball writer.
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