Maryland Terrapins Midseason Review: Surprising Their Critics

Halfway through this 2014-2015 basketball season, the Maryland Terrapins have turned heads and surprised people with the way they’ve handled their transition into the Big Ten. They currently sit at 15-2 overall (3-1 Big Ten), ranked 11th in the AP poll and second in the Big Ten standings. They were able to bounce back against the Purdue Boilermakers, winning 69-60 — a welcome sight after going to Champagne, Illinois and losing 64-57 to the Illinois Illini.

The Terps have had injuries plague their roster, and two of their biggest players were out of the lineup for sometime: Dezmine Wells (fractured wrist) and Evan Smotrycz (fractured bone in foot). The Terps were able to take care of business while those two were out with solid play from freshman guard Melo Trimble and junior forward Jake Layman. Additional quality games have come from sophomore forward Damonte Dodd and Senior Guard Richaud Pack.

Dez Wells came back against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in December and gave the Terps the missing piece they needed, and he has continued to thrive. He was injured, but now it’s as if he never got hurt. He’s had double-figure point totals for every game except for two in 2015. The three-headed monster of Trimble, Wells, and Layman have propelled the Terps to the position they’re at now.

Their biggest wins came against Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Michigan State. These were tough wins that didn’t come easily.

What sticks out to me about the way the Terps have played is that they’re stronger going inside the paint and scoring while also having multiple players that can score from the three-point line. The fact that they have a good balance between the inside/outside game speaks to the coaching of Mark Turgeon.

They have had as a team over 10 free-throw attempts per game all season, staying aggressive and driving to the basket. Everyone knows that a good inside game will always help to win games, in addition to getting rebounds and making the extra pass for open opportunities. In fact, the Terps are fourth in the Big Ten in rebounds with 37.5 rebounds per game.