Terrapins cruise past Rhode Island to finish Cancun trip on high note
|
Version 0 of 1. RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico — Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon and his staff weren’t going to leave the Yucatan Peninsula without making a statement, so they stayed up late into the night Tuesday preparing for the conventional tendencies of Rhode Island ahead of their final game of the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday. They had less than 24 hours to prepare before stepping into the crosshairs of another hungry mid-major who would love nothing more than to end this holiday tournament with a monumental upset of the country’s second-ranked team. But after three consecutive games in which they had to rally in the second half to avoid upsets against unranked opponents, the Terrapins put together a dominant showing in an 86-63 win over the Rams. The catalyst was sophomore Melo Trimble, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player after finishing with 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting, as well as six rebounds, four assists and three steals. “I didn’t worry about anything,” Trimble said. “I was just playing basketball.” It didn’t end there on a night when Maryland shot 60 percent from the field and took a solid step forward defensively. Senior guard Rasheed Sulaimon had 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4 of 5 from three-point range, and junior forward Robert Carter Jr. had 18 points and nine rebounds. [Bender to miss three games due to eligibility issue] This wasn’t the Dean Dome, where Maryland will meet North Carolina on Tuesday. It wasn’t Madison Square Garden, where it will take on Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic the following week. This was a makeshift gym bookended by portable metal bleachers, with a low ceiling and a plastic banners hanging in the corners. But Maryland never had to manufacture energy, even if the game was being played in a ballroom. The players slept in until late morning and lounged around the Hard Rock Hotel for much of the day, fully understanding that they needed to conserve their strength against a Rhode Island team that was looking for a marquee early-season win. “We seemed to have a lot of energy,” Turgeon said. Rhode Island simply had no answer once the game began. Maryland hit eight of its first 13 shots and led by as many as 21 in the first half. Carter was every bit the force so many expected him to be this season, scoring 13 points and pulling down seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Maryland shot a blistering 64 percent from the field in the first half, made even more impressive by the fact that it came against the country’s fifth-ranked team in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com. It was also a departure from the team’s recent three-point shooting struggles. Maryland had shot just 30.1 percent from three-point range entering the day — good for 243rd in the country — but it closed it by hitting10 of 17 from deep. Maryland’s length also caused major issues for the Rams on the defensive end, and Turgeon rotated fresh legs to help keep senior guard Four McGlynn in check. McGlynn, a Towson transfer who saved the Rams with 18 points in a 66-60 win over TCU on Tuesday, had just six points. Rhode Island used an 8-0 run to pull within 37-23 with three minutes remaining in the first half, and Turgeon called a timeout to reset his team’s focus. He wasn’t taking any chances, because this felt too good after the difficulty of the past 10 days. His players looked like they needed a dominant statement. So Trimble’s step-back 17-footer at the buzzer gave the Terrapins a 44-28 lead at halftime, and there was no lapse as the second half began. [Last game: Maryland 77, Illinois State 66] Sulaimon knocked down a pair of threes to open up a 53-30 lead with just more than 16 minutes remaining, touching his temple with three fingers after each shot. “I feel that the potential of this team is through the roof,” Sulaimon said. “but we made some great strides this weekend with these two games that we played in Cancun.” The swagger didn’t end there. After Jared Nickens’s three-pointer made it 68-45 with 8 minutes 28 seconds remaining, Turgeon continued to patrol the sidelines with vigor. He perpetually screamed at the referees and pumped his fist, as if his team was clinging to a one-point game late in the season. Turgeon and Rhode Island Coach Dan Hurley exchanged words after a three-pointer from Jake Layman with 1:41 remaining, which made it 81-57. A tournament official said after the game that Hurley directed an expletive at Maryland’s players in the postgame handshake line. Later, before the awards ceremony, the teams had to be separated at half court. But, by that point, Turgeon and his team had delivered their statement. “However people want to talk about us, we really don’t care,” Turgeon said. “What we do care about is that we’re getting better.” |