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Maryland routs Illinois in perhaps Melo Trimble’s final home game Maryland routs Illinois in perhaps Melo Trimble’s final home game
(about 1 hour later)
Maryland’s Melo Trimble clapped along with a sellout crowd as the team’s four seniors were honored before Thursday night’s home finale, knowing full well that it also was potentially his final game at Xfinity Center. Trimble will have decide within the coming weeks whether he is going to leave school early for the NBA draft, something the masses have speculated about all season but he didn’t have to worry about Thursday night. A group of students began to chant “One more year!” as Maryland’s Melo Trimble untucked his jersey and headed for the tunnel after Thursday night’s 81-55 win over Illinois. He just looked up into the stands and flashed his signature smile. He will have to decide in the coming weeks whether he is going to leave school early for the NBA draft, something the masses have speculated about all season, but Trimble tried not to think about whether Thursday night would be his last game at Xfinity Center.
Trimble was more concerned with playing like his old self in an 81-55 win over hapless Illinois, scoring 18 points and adding eight rebounds to help Maryland improve its positioning for next week’s Big Ten tournament. If it was, it couldn’t have gone much better against the hapless Illini. He finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, returning to old form after the most difficult month of his college career. Yet he preferred to fade to the background. He stood and clapped along with everyone else as Maryland honored its four seniors, including a rousing standing ovation for starters Jake Layman and Rasheed Sulaimon after both were pulled with just over two minutes remaining.
Maryland honored seniors Jake Layman, Rasheed Sulaimon, Varun Ram and Trevor Anzmann in an emotional ceremony before the win, and the morale only improved from there. It was crucial that Maryland put together a commanding, complete performance considering it entered the home finale having lost three of its past four. “I just wanted to get the win for the seniors that are here,” Trimble said. “We just want to focus on the rest of the season.”
The Terrapins (24-6, 12-5 Big Ten) gained what traction they could against one of the league’s worst teams in the Fighting Illini (13-17, 5-12), but this was nonetheless momentum that they can build upon ahead of Sunday’s regular season finale at Big Ten regular season champion Indiana. Layman, who received perhaps the loudest ovation in the pregame ceremony from a fan base that had watched him stick with the program through the roughest of times over the past four years, finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Maryland sophomore Jared Nickens finished with 14, and Robert Carter Jr. added 14 for the Terrapins, who never trailed. [For Jake Layman, a hard-earned senior night]
Trimble was the catalyst. He scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half, hitting 7 of 14 from the field. It was the best shooting performance in weeks for Trimble, who has continued to receive both treatment on his sore hamstring and encouragement from his teammates as he endured the worst shooting slump of his career. It was crucial that Maryland put together a commanding, complete performance considering it entered the home finale having lost three of its past four — and it wrapped up a top-four seed in next week’s Big Ten tournament with one of its most dominant performances of the season.
His best burst of the game came midway through the second half when he scored six points in four possessions to help put the game away. After getting to the line for a pair of free throws, he sliced open Illinois’s defense for layups on back to back possessions to make it 56-34 with just over nine minutes left. Maryland scored on 13 of 15 possessions in one stretch of the second half. Trimble also had five assists and just two turnovers. The Terrapins (24-6, 12-5 Big Ten) gained what traction they could against one of the league’s worst teams in the Fighting Illini (13-17, 5-12), but this was nonetheless much needed momentum ahead of Sunday’s regular season finale at Big Ten regular season champion Indiana.
Trimble was aided considerably by a balanced effort and a second-half scoring surge from Layman, who had 15 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes. Maryland used a 29-9 run to open up a 74-43 lead with just under four minutes remaining. Layman, who received perhaps the loudest ovation in the pregame ceremony from a fan base that had watched him stick with the program through the roughest of times over the past four years, finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Maryland sophomore Jared Nickens finished with 14, and Robert Carter Jr. added 14 for the Terrapins, who never trailed and made 30 field goals on 21 assists.
Maryland’s first half performance was underscored by an elevated defensive urgency. Illinois went scoreless for more than six minutes to begin the game and shot just 34.6 percent — including 1 for 7 from three-point range — in the first 20 minutes. Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon was rarely animated on a night when his team was heavily favored, but when he was, it typically revolved around a stop on the defensive end. That included a double fist pump after the Terrapins had forced a shot-clock violation with 3:55 remaining in the first half, and Trimble fed Sulaimon for a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to help extend the halftime lead to 31-21. “We just wore them down a little bit,” Turgeon said.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of Maryland’s night was in its ball security (turnovers) and improved physicality on the boards. Granted, Illinois entered the night last in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds and second-to-last in defensive rebounds per game, but Maryland delivered its message after being bludgeoned by 19 offensive rebounds in a loss to Purdue on Saturday. Maryland held a 36-26 rebounding advantage and held Illinois to just eight offensive boards. Trimble was the catalyst. He scored 11 of his points in the second half, hitting 7 of 14 from the field overall. It was the best shooting performance in weeks for Trimble, who has continued to receive both treatment on his sore hamstring and encouragement from his teammates as he endured the worst shooting slump of his career. Turgeon had pushed Maryland into one of its most difficult practices earlier this week — the session last nearly 21/2 hours — and Trimble later told him it as the best he had felt physically in nearly six weeks.
His best burst of the game came midway through the second half when he scored six points in four possessions to help put the game away. After getting to the line for a pair of free throws, he sliced open Illinois’s defense for layups on back-to-back possessions to make it 56-34 with just over nine minutes left. Maryland scored on 13 of 15 possessions in one stretch of the second half. Trimble also had five assists and just two turnovers.
“I just needed to see a shot go down and feel lively again,” Trimble said.
Trimble was aided considerably by a balanced effort and a second-half scoring surge from Layman, who scored 15 of his points in the final 20 minutes. Maryland used a 29-9 run to open up a 74-43 lead with just under four minutes remaining.
[NCAA brackets not made on expectations, so Maryland’s a No. 4 seed]
Maryland’s first half performance was underscored by an elevated defensive urgency. Illinois went scoreless for more than six minutes to begin the game and shot just 34.6 percent — including 1 for 7 from three-point range — in the first 20 minutes.
Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon was rarely animated on a night when his team was heavily favored, but when he was, it typically revolved around a stop on the defensive end. That included a double fist pump after the Terrapins had forced a shot-clock violation with 3 minutes 55 seconds remaining in the first half, and Trimble fed Sulaimon for a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to help extend the halftime lead to 31-21.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of Maryland’s night was in its improved physicality on the boards. Granted, Illinois entered the night last in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds and second-to-last in defensive rebounds per game, but Maryland delivered its message after being bludgeoned by 19 offensive rebounds in a loss to Purdue on Saturday. Maryland had a 36-26 rebounding advantage and held Illinois to eight offensive boards.
“It’s good for us,” Layman said. “We’ve been stressing defense and rebounding, and I think we did that well tonight.”