#2 Maryland Set for First-Ever Big Ten Tournament
3/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 2 seed Maryland men's basketball team will play Indiana as it embarks on its first-ever Big Ten Tournament Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the United Center in Chicago.
WATCH: BTN - Eric Collins (Play-by-Play), Bill Raferty (Analyst), Rick Pizzo (Sideline)
LISTEN: Terrapin Sports Radio Network - Johnny Holliday (Play-by-Play), Chris Knoche (Analyst), Walt Williams (Sideline); Compass Media Network - Drew Bontadelli and Mike Wozniak; Sirius 91, XM 91, ESPN 980, 105.7 FM
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• With a win at Nebraska on Sunday, No. 8-ranked Maryland recorded its school-record 26th regular-season victory of the year. The Terps have been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for 15 straight weeks, the longest streak since 2002-03 when they were ranked all 19 weeks. Maryland was ranked 73 consecutive weeks from 1999-2003.
• Senior Dez Wells (first team - coaches, second team - media), freshman Melo Trimble (first team - media, second team - coaches, All-Freshman team) and junior Jake Layman (third team - media, honorable mention - coaches) earned various All-Big Ten honors.
• Head coach Mark Turgeon - who is 85-47 in four seasons at Maryland - was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Turgeon led Maryland to 26 wins in the regular season, a nine-game improvement from its 17 victories in the 2013-14 season, a mark that is second among schools in the Power Five conferences.
• Maryland is riding a seven-game winning streak into its first-ever Big Ten Tournament - the longest winning streak within the conference to end the regular season since Wisconsin won seven consecutive in the 2007-08 season. Dez Wells and Melo Trimble are averaging 18.7 and 18.6 points, respectively, during the streak while the team is shooting a blistering 83 percent from the charity stripe (107-129).
• Dez Wells finished the regular season on an absolute tear, scoring in double-figures in 11 straight games, while averaging 17.7 points per game with a .527 field goal percentage during that span. He added a pair of double-doubles at Rutgers and Nebraska.
• Melo Trimble leads the team in double-figure scoring games (28), 20-point games (9), assists (97) and steals (39). He is fourth nationally in free throws made (190).
• Jake Layman has posted a career-high 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He averaged 17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per outing during Wells' seven-game absence with a fractured wrist as Maryland went 6-1 during the stretch with its lone loss coming to then-No. 7 Virginia.
Terps Pick Up Win No. 26 at Nebraska Sunday
• Melo Trimble scored 21 points to lead then-No. 10 Maryland past Nebraska 64-61 on Sunday night in Lincoln.
• Dez Wells had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double, and Jake Layman added 11 points as the Terrapins won their seventh straight game.
• The win was Maryland's school-record 26th regular season victory of the year.
Wells Named B1G Co-Player of the Week
• Maryland senior guard/forward Dez Wells earned co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors, the league announced on Monday.
• Wells averaged 19.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game with a pair of double-doubles in leading the Terrapins to road wins at Rutgers and Nebraska. For the week, Wells connected on 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the field and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line.
• In the 60-50 win at Rutgers on Tuesday, Wells scored 20 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and tallied four steals. He scored 18 points, corralled 12 rebounds and handed out four assists in the 64-61 victory at Nebraska on Sunday evening.
2004 - Terps' Last Conference Title
• The 2004 Maryland basketball team captured the ACC Title, winning the conference tournament for the third time in history and the first time since 1984. The Terps defeated No. 3 seed Wake Forest (87-86), No. 2 seed NC State (85-82) and No. 1 seed Duke (95-87 (OT) to mark the third time in ACC Tournament history that a team knocked off the top three seeds.• John Gilchrist was named the 2004 ACC Tournament MVP, becoming the first Terrapin to earn that distinction since Len Bias in 1984. He averaged 24.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals across the three ACC tourney games.
Pride, Passion, Tradition - The Maryland Way
Maryland is one of the most consistent winning programs in the country following more than a decade of excellence:
• The Terps have averaged 22.4 wins per season the last 17 years, including eight consecutive 20-win seasons from 1996-2004.
• Maryland has 18 postseason appearances in the last 21 years, including 11 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament from 1993-2004.
• The Terps have advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen seven times in the last 20 years.
• Maryland made consecutive trips to the NCAA Final Four in 2001 and 2002 .
• The Terps captured the 2002 NCAA National Championship.
Get to know the big Ten conference
- Big Ten has had seven First Team AP All-Americans over the last five years…same as ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Pac 12 COMBINED
- Big Ten has had two of the past five Wooden Award winners
- Big Ten has more NCAA Tournament appearances over last five years than any conference (31)
- Big Ten has more Sweet 16 appearances over last five years than any conference (16)…SEC is second closest with 10
- Big Ten leads all conferences with nearly 5 million alumni and more than 460,000 students.
