No. 14 Terps Defeat Wolverines and Acquire Perfect Big Ten Home Record

By Krista Bliumentalis

The Maryland Terrapins (24-5, 12-4 Big Ten) capped off a perfect Big Ten season at home when they defeated the Michigan Wolverines 66-56 on Saturday afternoon.

“It is pretty amazing,” Head Coach Mark Turgeon said when commenting on their perfect home record, “We did not talk about it, but we all knew it was great to finish 9-0 at home.”

Along with the perfect home record in the Big Ten, Maryland has lost only one game this season at home to Virginia, which gave them an 18-1 record from College Park.

The Terps celebrated seven seniors prior to their game against Michigan on Saturday. (Courtesy of UMTerps.com)

Turgeon gave credit to the atmosphere from the fans and students at the Xfinity Center who supported the Terps throughout the season. “Our fans would not let us lose and so that is why you come to Maryland; to be a part of that,” he added.

Freshman Melo Trimble led the Terrapins with 19 points in their victory over the Wolverines. Dez Wells contributed 13 points and Jake Layman added another 10 points to help round out Maryland’s winning score.

The Terps honored the seven members of their senior class before the start of the game, which included Dez Wells, Spencer Barks, Jon Graham, Richaud Pack, Varun Ram, Evan Smotycz, and Jacob Susskind. Every member of the senior class received playing time during the Terps battle against Michigan.

“To be able to play and honor every senior, it was hard to do,” Turgeon said when commenting on the senior class.

Zak Irvin and Spike Albrecht each scored 15 points for Michigan (14-14, 7-9 Big Ten). This loss marked the sixth Wolverine loss in the last seven games.

After eight lead changes and four ties during the first half, the Terps were able to end the first half with a 12-0 run, giving them a 30-21 lead. Trimble nailed a big three with 28 seconds remaining in the first half, which gave momentum to the Terps going into halftime.

Dez Wells assisted a Jake Layman dunk followed by a Trimble drive to the basket, which secured the Terps win within the final minutes of play.

The Terps will conclude the remainder of their season on the road as they travel to Rutgers on Tuesday and Nebraska on Sunday.