By: Joe Catapano
Melo Trimble drained a 3-pointer 55 seconds into to second half Saturday afternoon against Saint Peter’s. The field goal wasn’t just Trimble’s first points of the game, but it was the first shot he attempted.
Trimble, who has been a intricate part of Maryland’s scoring attack this season, took a step back to facilitate and let other teammates accept larger roles in the Terps’ 66-56 win over the Peacocks.
“[Melo’s] obviously our leader and he didn’t take a shot in the first half,” Maryland guard Kevin Huerter said after the game. “It shows how unselfish he is and he’s willing to get other guys involved if the shots ultimately aren’t there for him.”
It was once again a tale of two halves for the Terrapins, who usually come out slow and then finish strong. This time, it was the exact opposite.
After shooting 68 percent in the first 20 minutes, Maryland regressed to just 28 percent in the second half, letting Saint Peter’s crawl back into the game. A late 12-1 run by the Peacocks turned Maryland’s 22-point halftime lead into just a 10-point deficit with 1:11 left to play.
“In the second half we didn’t finish the game,” Mark Turgeon said. “We weren’t very good and we weren’t very focused.”
But for the visiting Peacocks, it was too little too late despite the Terrapins failing to make a shot in the final four and a half minutes.
“We haven’t played a full complete game yet,” said Anthony Cowan, who contributed eight points in the win. “That’s one thing we need to work on, but we’re still a young team so I think we’re going to get better over the year.”
While Turgeon is still looking for the ideal rotation and playing time before Big Ten competition begins on Dec. 27, his effort to share the time seemed to affect the team’s second-half performance.
“It’s just disappointing because I thought we lost concentration,” Turgeon said. “I’ll take the blame – I [tried] to play everyone equally.”
While the players might not be focused on playing time, they are focused on one thing: winning.
“I just want to give it to whoever is playing the best at the moment and is giving us the best possible chance to win,” Cowan said. “That’s who’s going to play. That’s how it is and that’s how it should be.”
While Trimble put his scoring on the backburner, Huerter and Justin Jackson gave the Terrapins the best possible chance to win, taking advantage of their opportunities, each scoring above their respective season averages.
Jackson, who has done most of his scoring this season from behind the 3-point line, took his game inside the paint against Saint Peter’s, shooting just two 3-pointers. The freshman finished with a team-high 19 points, shooting 6-of-8 from both the field and the free-throw line.
Huerter scored 12 points in the first half on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including three 3-pointers. He finished with 14 points, a new career-high, and four rebounds.
“It definitely helps hitting your first shot, and once you hit your first shot your confidence gets going and teammates find you more,” Huerter said. “As the season goes on you’re going to get more comfortable with the offense and I think everyone is starting to get more comfortable.”
Maryland has been unable to find a consistent scoring option from the five position all season because of a merry-go-round of injuries between Damonte Dodd, Michal Cekovsky and Ivan Bender. Dodd missed his second-straight game with an MCL injury, leaving Cekovsky and Bender to step up down low for the Terrapins. The 7-foot-1 Cekovsky took advantage of a relatively small Peacocks lineup, scoring eight points on 4-of-7 shooting, and adding three rebounds.
Saint Peter’s forward Quadir Welton, averaging a team-high 16 points per game for the Peacocks, was limited to just five points on 2-of-11 shooting thanks to great interior defense from Cekovsky and Bender.
“The length was bothering [Quadir],” Saint Peter’s head coach John Dunne said. “Those guys are long and athletic.”
Maryland moves to 10-1 on the season, but Huerter says coach Turgeon just concentrating on improving the team.
“He’s not looking at our record,” Huerter said. “He just knows we can get a lot better.”
Maryland will look to improve and play its first complete game when it returns to action Monday night against Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. in College Park.
