#12 Maryland Terrapins Win Inaugural Big Ten Game at Michigan State
By Cory Forsyth
The Maryland Terrapins got their first Big Ten victory by defeating Michigan State on the road.
Dez Wells didn’t play a perfect game (7 turnovers) but he made big plays when his team needed him the most. With the Terps down three points with 2.2 seconds left in regulation, Wells nailed a three pointer to send the game to the first of two overtimes.
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Wells finished the game with 16 points, five assists and seven rebounds, helping #12 Maryland (13-1, 1-1) secure a 68-66 victory over Michigan State (9-5, 0-1) in their inaugural Big Ten game.
The game was slow going for both teams, and Maryland was stuck trying to find a way to make things happen.
When a team that averages close to 50% from the field shoots 33.3% from the field and 18.2% from behind the three-point line, they have to find other ways to give themselves a chance to win.
"“We also knew we had to rebound to beat this team and I thought we did that better than we have done all year.” Mark Turgeon"
Maryland overcame poor shooting and 21 turnovers by out-rebounding the Spartans 52-36. The Terps also shot 81.3% from the free-throw line scoring 26 points on a night when points were hard to come by.
It wasn’t just one player who found a way to keep Maryland in the game. It was the entire team. The rebounding and free throws did not just come from one or two Maryland players. They came from multiple players. Six Terps had five or more rebounds and five players knocked down shots from the free-throw line.
In both overtimes combined, the Terrapins shot a combined 13-of-16 from the free-throw line which accounted for more than two-thirds of their points during those overtime periods.
Michigan State was led by Travis Trice who scored a game high 26 points, but the Spartans shot a dismal 32.3% from the field and 22.7% from three and could not match Maryland’s scoring from the foul line. Tom Izzo’s team shot 67.9% from the line compared to Maryland’s 81.3%.
Mark Turgeon was excited about the win, especially knowing the quality of a coach he went up against.
"“Obviously that’s a great win for us. There is a reason this guy [Izzo] has been to so many Final Fours. They guarded us as well as anyone’s guarded us. They made it tough on us and we just kept trying to figure out ways to score. We finally figured it out.”"
It sure wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. Maryland was able to secure their first Big Ten victory on their first try and will look for their first home Big Ten win on Saturday when they face Minnesota (11-2) at the Xfinity Center at 12pm ET.