Maryland Terrapins: Diamond Stone Dominant in Win Over Penn State

Diamond Stone scored 39 points in his first Big Ten Conference game for a Maryland Terrapins 70-64 win over Penn State.

This is the Diamond Stone that Maryland basketball fans were waiting for.

On his first night in Big Ten Conference action, he showed the nation why the No. 4 Maryland Terrapins are a legit championship contender. The freshman scored 39 points, with 32 coming in the second half. The 39 points was a freshman record and he joined

The Terps got off to a very sluggish start and trailed at the half, 31-23. They shot 6-of-24 in the first 20 minutes as Penn State quieted the XFINITY Center. That’s when the Terrapins unleashed Stone from the bench and he gave Mark Turgeon everything he wanted when he asked the 6-foot-11 to come to College Park.

Penn State had no answer for Stone on the inside. He was active on both ends of the boards and threw down several big jams as he gave the Terps the win on his own. His presence was felt on the defensive end as well, which Turgeon took notice.

[blockquote]”He had 39 points and 12 rebounds, but when I watch the tape, I probably will be most pleased with his defense. There was times in the first half when he was playing well, but he was hurting us defensively. The second half I didn’t feel that way.” [/blockquote]

Stone broke the school record for most free throw attempts (25) and free throws made (19). The absurd numbers do not stop there. The 32 points scored in the second half by Stone was just one less (33) than the entire Penn State team. The 39 points scored also out scored the 31 the rest of the Terps team added.

The performance by Stone was truly one of the best in the history of Maryland basketball. What cannot be forgotten is how dreadful the rest of the team performed. Melo Trimble was effective as a distributor on a few of Stone’s finishes and hit a couple big threes, but shot 3-of-15 for 10 points. Robert Carter added 11 points, but it without Stone’s effort Penn State would have stole a road conference game against the fourth-ranked Terps.

The win continued the Terrapins 22-game winning streak at the XFINITY Center, but they must play better with the remaining Big Ten schedule due up to start 2016. Three of the next four games are on the road with back-to-back games at Wisconsin and Michigan. Those teams are playing at a much higher level than the Nittany Lions.

Tonight was a fantastic performance from Maryland basketball’s top recruit, but the rest of the Terps need to step their game up the rest of the way. When this team gels by February and March, they have the potential to be championship worthy.