Feature photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.
Ten seconds remained on the game clock in No. 4 Maryland Terrapins first Big Ten contest of the season. As Penn State trailed the Terps by six points, Nittany Lions guard Shep Garner attempted a layup in desperation.
After forward Jake Layman spiked Garner’s shot down, guard Rasheed Sulaimon dribbled the around the court as the clock trickled down to zero.
Layman and Sulaimon may have helped the Terps close out the game in the final seconds, but freshman center Diamond Stone led the Terps to victory with 39 points and 12 rebounds.
Stone scored 32 in the second half to help the Terps bounce back from a slow offensive start and overcome a 13-point deficit to unranked Penn State 70-64 on Wednesday, improving to 12-1.
“Diamond liked the bright lights,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “He likes the big stage, he likes to be challenged and we were extremely challenged today.”
Diamond Stone: 36 points. Rest of Maryland: 28 points. Check out the @umterps big man throw down a two-handed flush! https://t.co/RPPnTOouBP
— Sean Merriman (@MerrimanTweets) December 30, 2015
Stone, a five-star recruit and Milwaukee native, made history.
His career-high scoring output was enough to break the program record for a freshman previously held by Joe Smith. He scored the most points since guard Greivis Vasquez’s scored 41 in a double overtime victory over Virginia Tech in 2010. The game also marked his first career double-double.
While Stone shined offensively, the rest of the team combined to shoot 21.4 percent from the field. In the first half, the Terps shot 25 percent from the field and put forth the same effort from behind the three-point line.
“We struggled offensively from the beginning, and it affected us greatly,” Turgeon said. “Went into halftime, we just tried to give our guys confidence and speed the game up any way we could.”
The Terps trailed by eight at the break, but only 2:34 came off the clock before Stone converted a dunk to tie the game at 33.
Melo Trimble to Diamond Stone x 2. Maryland has wiped away an 8 point halftime deficit in 2:30 https://t.co/5YrW76VM16
— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) December 30, 2015
After scoring seven points in the first half, Stone scored eight in the first 2:55 of the second half.
In the minutes after the Terps tied the game, they struggled to gain a lead of more than one point. Penn State went on an 18-6 run that lasted over seven minutes to give themselves a 13-point advantage with 6:34 remaining.
“It didn’t look very good,” Turgeon said. “We didn’t have a lot going, couldn’t make a shot.”
In the next 60 seconds, Stone would change the course of the game. The freshman scored seven unanswered points, capping off the run with a converted three-point play in transition to pull the Terps within six.
The 7-0 run, which was the beginning of a 25-6 run, helped the Terps put away the Nittany Lions.
“We had to figure out another way to do it,” forward Robert Carter Jr. said. “Diamond came up big, being there for dump offs, being there for offensive rebounds, getting his own offensive rebounds a lot, and he took control and we rode him. When it was time for us to make our shots at the end, we made them.”
During the run, the Terps made three of four three pointers. Despite making their first two three point attempts of the night, before the closing run, the Terps had missed 15 consecutive threes.
After missing his first five threes, point guard Melo Trimble made his final two. Though he made only three of his 15 field goals en route to 10 points, Trimble dished out six assists. Turgeon gave the team’s point guard credit after the game for some of Stone’s success.
“He totally dictated the game in the second half,” Turgeon said. “Diamond had 39; Melo had a lot to do with that.”
During the closing run, Trimble assisted on two of Stone’s baskets.
Though Stone fed off of his point guard’s energy, the record-shattering freshman was not aware that he was making history.
“This is just a regular game for me,” Stone said. “Knew I was in the zone, but I wasn’t aware of any points or records. We’re trying to win the Big Ten and this is the first game.”
- Associate Head Coach Adam Hughes named Maryland Volleyball head coach - January 23, 2018
- Terps land three-star tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo - August 18, 2017
- Israeli Basketball Player Elevates Sports Over Politics - July 4, 2017
