After second half adjustments, Terps put away the Boilermakers

Posted By on February 6, 2016

Feature photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

On Saturday in the Xfinity Center, the No. 4 Maryland Terrapins’ game against No. 18 Purdue followed somewhat of a familiar script.

After a close first half, the Terps found themselves trailing at the break. With just under six minutes left in the game, they trailed the Boilermakers by four. Later, an 11-2 run prompted Purdue to take a timeout and put Maryland up by five, 58-53.

The 11-2 run was the early part of the Terps’ game closing 25-10 run, which head coach Mark Turgeon said was fueled by late game adjustments; the stretch helped Maryland (21-3, 9-2 B1G) down the Boilermakers (19-5, 7-4 B1G), 72-61.

“Our decision making just got better,” Turgeon said. “I told the guys at halftime, ‘I give you a lot of freedom… but you have got to make better decisions.’ We’ve got a veteran team, and they did that in the second half.”

Turgeon pointed to the team’s performance against Purdue as a testament to its improvements on defense and on the boards, as well as the players’ ability to perform well in big games.

Turgeon praised his stars after the game, pointing their ability to play in big games. He called forward Robert Carter Jr. an “old soul,” referenced how forward Jake Layman and guard Rasheed Sulaimon “[have] been around” and highlighted point guard Melo Trimble’s seasoned talent, saying he “plays like he’s 30.” He also described center Diamond Stone’s defensive performance as his best this season.

Defensively, Stone helped Maryland hold Purdue to 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 12 percent from behind the three-point line. The Boilermakers only attempted five free throws and missed three of them.    

“We try to make defense our identity,” Sulaimon said. “We have all the physical tools to be a great defensive team. It’s all about locking in and giving effort. Day-by-day I think every game that we play and every practice that we’re in, we’re starting to show that we can be a dominant defensive team.

The Terps’ big play ability was also on full display against the Boilermakers. Carter dazzled the 11th sellout crowd of the season as he did his best quarterback imitation, connecting with Rasheed Sulaimon twice on full court passes that led to a couple fast break points on both occasions.

Sulaimon paced the Terps offensively with 21 points. He also added ten rebounds, posting his first career double double. 15 of Sulaimon’s points came in the second half, seven of which came at the free throw line.

In the first half, Carter Jr. scored 11 points on a trio of triples and a ferocious slam-dunk. Carter Jr. finished the game with 19 points and seven rebounds, making 7-10 field goals and 4-6 three-pointers. The rest of the team missed all 14 of their shots from downtown.

“Our guys figured it out,” Turgeon said. “They knew they weren’t making jump shots, Melo didn’t get the midrange game going today, which he normally does. We figured out how to get to the foul line, and we made free throws.”

After only attempting four free throws, and missing two of them in the first half, the Terps made 22-23 shots from the charity stripe in the second half. Sulaimon took seven free throws, while Trimble led the team in the second half with eight. Both guards made all of their free throws in the second half.

Maryland also cut down on turnovers, committing two in the second half after six gaffes in the first. Maryland finished the game with a season-low eight turnovers. The Terps committed ten less miscues than they did against Nebraska on Wednesday. That total was their highest since late December against Marshall.

Sulaimon committed a team high three turnovers, but no other Terrapin had more than one.               

“First of all, I have to be better,” Sulaimon said. “Second, we’re just starting to get more comfortable in our offense and we’re starting to trust each other more. I keep talking about the dynamic players that we have, but if we just continue to keep trusting each other and move the ball, we’re going to get good shots and we’re going to get good looks.”

The Terps shot 40.7 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from downtown. If you exclude Carter Jr. from that, those numbers fall to 34.1 and zero.

While most of the team struggled offensively throughout the game, more trips to the free throw line and a late game push aided Maryland in the end.

As Carter Jr. hit his fourth three pointer of the game with five minutes and 40 seconds remaining, the Terps’ 25-10 game closing run began.

“Your shot is not going to fall every night, but your effort and your energy on defense can always be consistent,” Carter Jr. said. “[Turgeon] is a firm believer in that and most of his teams win close games. We relied on our defense tonight to propel us to victory, and we made shots when it counted.”

Alex Flum
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Alex, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, joined The Left Bench in 2015 and will cover the Maryland Men's Basketball team this year. He is a native of the DC Area and a long-suffering DC Sports fan (especially Wizards and Redskins).