By Emily Olsen

Dear Melo Trimble,

Welcome to the world of vines, trending on twitter, and social media fame.

Sincerely,

The Internet

On Saturday afternoon, January 17, 2015, Melo Trimble broke the Internet, or at the very least gave us something to talk about. A six- second vine that can be found by typing “Melo Trimble” into the search bar on twitter will show the highlight of the Terps’ 75-59 victory over the Michigan State Spartans.

With less than 20 seconds to play in the first half, Michigan State’s Travis Trice turned over the ball. Melo Trimble sped down the court with the ball, faked to his right then, before the Spartan’s defense could react, crossed over to his left side and hit a three-point jumper to put the Terps up 40-26. An eruption of cheers shook the sold-out Xfinity Center as the team stormed the court to celebrate a fantastic first half. What followed was Internet history.

Shortly after his now-famous crossover, “Melo Trimble” trended nationally on Twitter. Several vines and short videos captured the play. The shot is just another highlight for Trimble’s young and impressive college career. Finishing the game with a team-high 24 points, 21 of which were scored in the first half, Trimble proved once again to be a leader for the (17-2) Terrapins.

“He’s obviously one of the best players in the country,” junior forward Jake Layman said about his teammate. “People are just starting to notice it.”

Layman was also a key contributor to the Terps’ win, totaling 23 points and 12 rebounds. This is his fourth double-double of the season. Layman showed great improvements from the Terps’ first matchup against the Spartans in December.

“I thought he was more aggressive,” Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said. “I don’t think he was like that the first game.”

After a stellar first half lead by Layman and Trimble, Trimble was quiet for much of the second, scoring only three points. Freshman Jared Nickens contributed in the second half with six points and Dez Wells scored nine points, but it was Wells’ work off the ball and defensive efforts that stood out to Coach Mark Turgeon.

“I thought Dez Wells defensively on Valentine was off the charts,” Coach Turgeon said. “You’ll look at the numbers and say ‘Coach is crazy with nine points,’ but he had five assists and two turnovers and really guarded.”

Although the Terps had one of their best offensive games of the season, Michigan State did not perform at a top level. They shot under 20 percent on three-pointers and only 30.8 percent on free throws by completing only 4 of 13.

“We really struggled. You go 3 for 14 or 13 or whatever we went for from the line. You miss, I don’t know how many layups, I think at one point it was six layups,” said Coach Izzo. “You’re not going to beat a good team when you do stuff like that.”

Coach Turgeon commended the Terps’ performance and accredited a strong team effort put forth in practice the day before as a key factor. Coach Turgeon said the intensity was much greater going into Saturday’s game than it had been going into the game against Rutgers.

“We played well today because we practiced at a high level yesterday,” said Coach Turgeon. “Hopefully our guys will learn that they have to practice at a high level to play well.”

Trimble agreed with Coach Turgeon about the intensity of practice and said he feels a responsibility to help keep the team working hard.

“I try to get the team motivated, especially during practice because practice makes perfect and it showed today,” Trimble said.

Saturday’s game was broadcast on CBS Network and proved to be the perfect time for Trimble to show the nation his game.

“Yes I’ve seen Melo do that several times,” Coach Turgeon said of Trimble’s first-half play. “It doesn’t shock me and his confidence doesn’t shock me.“