By: Johnny Moseman
Maryland needed spectacular second half shooting to glide past Charlotte 88-72 after a sloppy start in the first half Tuesday night in Baltimore.
After shooting one for nine from three and trailing by as much as 10 points in the first half, Melo Trimble and the Terrapins finally got things going to start the second half.
The Terps shot 10-16 from three-point range in the second half and everyone was hitting their shots. Trimble led the way for Maryland with 21 points on 7-12 shooting and he also hit all four of his free throws. Trimble was the second half hero he has been all year tonight, taking 9 of his 12 shots in the second half.
Even though their shooting was turned on in the second half, Maryland still had a season-high 21 turnovers in tonight’s game, with 11 of them coming in the first 11 minutes of the game.
It took a while for Maryland to get adjusted to Charlotte’s zone defense tonight, but once they figured it out in the second half they were getting any shot they wanted.
Freshmen Anthony Cowan, Kevin Huerter, and Justin Jackson were huge for the Terps tonight, combining for 31 points tonight. Cowan had 16 of those points and also led the team with five assists and also added four rebounds.
Jaylen Brantley was also spectacular tonight, stepping in for Trimble at times while he was struggling with foul trouble. He finished with eight points and five rebounds and has also become one of the Terps most improved players this season.
With Damonte Dodd out tonight due to a left knee injury, forwards Michal Cekovsky and Ivan Bender stepped up big time to replace the senior. They both finished with 10 points each while Cekovsky grabbed six rebounds and Bender collected four.
Dion Wiley also sat out tonight due to a sprained left wrist. This let Jared Nickens get some playing time in the first half after not playing in the first half of the Terps last game against Jacksonville State. Nickens had six points on 2-5 shooting from three. This was great to see after Nickens has been struggling making his shots over the past month of the season.
Charlotte was led by their leading scorer and Baltimore native Jon Davis. The sophomore led the game with 28 points and added three assists as well. Davis averages 19 points per game for the 49ers.
The Terps had an eight-day hiatus before tonight’s game due to finals and now they have another week off before starting B1G play against Illinois next Tuesday night in College Park.
