Maryland Terrapins Blow by Tulsa for Mark Turgeon’s 300th Career Win

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Santa Clause is real!

The Terps got a late Christmas present Sunday night at the Comcast Center as Seth Allen made his season debut against Tulsa (4-9).

Coach Mark Turgeon had this to say about Allen’s return.

"“I knew [Seth Allen] was going to play well. Seth is a special athlete and a good player. It’s just good to get him back. It gave everybody, including me, confidence.”"

Everybody including Coach Turgeon was planning on Seth Allen playing a few minutes here and there in hopes that he would contribute a little, but most importantly, that he would start to get his legs back under him.

Who knew that Allen would be the one to provide the spark the Maryland Terrapins (8-5) needed to get back into the game early and would help them secure Mark Turgeon’s 300th career victory?

Coming off a seven-day break might have been a part of the Terrapins falling behind 25-10 only eleven minutes into the first half. The sluggish and “here we go again” Terps were helped out by Allen who came off the bench making a layup and drilling a 3-pointer to help his team storm back with an 18-4 run.

"“It was very exciting just to get back on the floor,” Allen said. “I was anxious. But to play with my team again, it was great.”"

Allen’s 15 points and three assists along with a milestone-setting night for Dez Wells helped the Terps come back from double digits early to beat Tulsa 85-74.

Dez Wells grabbed 10 rebounds and poured in 18 points which gave him over 1000 points for his career that started at Xavier.  Evan Smotrycz and Faust each had 13 and Layman added 12 to the great team effort shown by the Terps.

So what can we take away from this game?

Dez Wells had some insight that he shared last night.

"“We had five days off and Coach Turgeon didn’t want us to do anything. He wanted us to just relax and stretch and take as much time off going into ACC play. That’s when the grind really starts. We were winded tonight but we fought through it, fought the fatigue and we got it done. That’s all that matters, we got it done.”"

The key thing is this: the Terps got it done. This game as well as the upcoming game against North Carolina Central are must-wins for Maryland.

The team as a whole showed a lot more energy when Seth Allen was on the court. For him to be able to get two games under his belt before ACC play is huge for this Terrapins team. His quickness is there, he shot the ball well and it seems like he is picking up where he left off.

That being said, there is still a lot the Terps need to figure out. They cannot continue to fall behind early. At some point, Maryland has to want it more than their opponent and take control of a game.

We will see how well this Maryland team does in their last non-conference game of the season tomorrow night against North Carolina Central. Is Seth Allen the key that will make this Terps team click? We will find out soon enough.

One more thing…congratulations Coach Turgeon on your 300th career win! Check out this picture from last night!