UMD Men's basketball making B1G Moves

By Jess Nocera on January 7, 2015

If you know me, then you know I have a slight obsession with the University of Maryland men’s basketball team.

Okay, who I am kidding, I have a huge obsession with the team and an even bigger crush on star player, Jake Layman. I mean just look at him:

Anyways, besides Layman, the entire basketball team has been quite successful in their first season in the Big Ten. Currently, the team has an overall record of 14-2 and are 2-1 in Big Ten Conference games. Also, the Terrapins are ranked 11th in the AP Top 25 Poll and 9th in USA Today’s Coaches Poll. This is the highest ranking for the Terps since Feb. 3, 2003, when they were ranked No.8.

Even though the season started off with a few rough patches due to the injuries of seniors Evan Smotrycz and Dez Wells, the rest of the Terrapins stepped up. Smotrycz suffered a fractured foot in mid-October, and Wells broke his wrist in late November. In a recent Washington Post online article, Coach Turgeon was quoted as saying that Smotrycz is, “still getting in shape.”

Freshman Melo Trimble has certainly made a name for himself. Trimble, a recent graduate from Bishop O’Connell High School, was named Big Ten co-Player of the Week in early December. According to his bio on umterps.com, he’s the first freshman to earn player of the week honors since Jared Sullinger in 2011. Also, he has the team-high in points so far this season, with 31 against Arizona State.

Now, this season hasn’t been cake for the Terrapins even though their record reflects otherwise. Their only loss was to old ACC rival Virginia, but there have been a few games where the Terps lose their grip for a brief second then regain it and succeed in the end.

The closest game so far this season was the Terps first Big Ten game against Michigan State. The game went into double overtime, with the Terps winning by a score of 68-66. Wells managed a game-saving 3-pointer at the end of regulation and made key free throws down the stretch to help the Terrapins earn their win.

I wonder how former Terps Seth Allen, Charles Mitchell, Nick Faust, Roddy Peters and Shaquille Cleare feel about their decision to transfer after the 2013-2014 season.

The Terps fire has fizzled slightly with a loss against Illinois on Wednesday night. They fought hard, but fell to the Fighting Illini 64-57, ending a seven game winning streak.

The Terps take on Purdue University on Saturday Jan. 1o at 2:30pm.

*At the beginning of the game on Jan.7, Maryland was announced as being ranked 9th, however that has not been updated on the weekly AP Top 25 Poll yet. *