COLLEGE PARK, Md. – There's so much to cover with the Maryland men's basketball team that we're skipping the witty intro and getting right to this week's umterps Notebook …
Beating The Buzzer
Melo Trimble's buzzer-beating 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left gave Maryland a 63-60 win at Wisconsin this past Saturday in Madison gave the Terrapins their 15th victory in their first 16 games this season - the program's best start in history (more on that to come).
With Trimble's heroics fresh in mind, here's a look at Maryland's buzzer-beater wins from the past 30 seasons …
68-67 vs. Northwestern (1/25/15)
Melo Timble looked for the game-winning 3 with :01 on the clock, but Dez Wells was there for the rebound and put-back as time expired. The Wildcats took a 67-66 lead with :08 on jumper by Tre Demps to set up Wells' heroics.
74-71 vs. Miami (1/29/14)
Dez Wells hit the game-winning 3-pointer with :08 on the clock after Miami tied it at 71-71 on a 3 by Rion Brown with :19 remaining.
51-50 vs. #14 NC State (1/16/13)
Both teams were scoreless from the 1:43 mark when NC State took a 50-49 lead on a 3-pointer by Lorenzo Brown. Pe'Shon Howard missed a 3-pointer with :01 left, but Alex Len was there for the put-back to give Maryland the win.
75-74 vs. College of Charleston (11/10/10)
The Terps trailed by six, 74-68, with 2:42 left. Jumpers by Cliff Tucker and Pe'Shon Howard and a free throw by Jordan Williams cut the deficit to 1 with 54 sec. remaining. A missed jumper by CofC's Andrew Goudelock at the 23 sec. mark gave Maryland a chance and Howard hit the game-winning jumper with :03 left.
76-74 vs. Georgia Tech (2/20/10)
Derrick Favors gave Tech a 74-73 lead with :02 left with a layup, but that was enough time for Cliff Tucker to his the game-winning three for the Terps with :01 remaining.
75-73 vs. UNC Wilmington (3/21/03)
NCAA 1st Round
Aaron Coombs hit a pair free throws to put the Seahawks up 73-72 with :05 remaining, setting the stage for one of the most famous shots in Maryland history – a running 3-pointer from the right alley at the buzzer by Drew Nicholas, who went all the way down the court after UNCW denied Steve Blake the ball on the inbounds.
68-65 at NC State (3/2/03)
Drew Nicholas hit the game-winning three with :02 left off an assist by Steve Blake gave Maryland its first lead since the 9:25 mark of the first half. The Terps erased an 11-point 2nd-half deficit.
69-67 vs. #16 Illinois (12/4/99)
Juan Dixon hit a running jumper with :06.3 left to break the 67-67 tie.
54-51 at #2 Wake Forest (1/19/97)
Laron Profit hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to hand Wake Forest its first loss of the season after the Demon Deacons tied the score on a pair of free throws by Tim Duncan with 17.3 sec. left.
94-92 at Duke (3/1/1995)
With the score tied at 92-92 with 28 sec. remaining, Maryland held the ball for the final shot. Duane Simpkins drove the ball down the right baseline. After getting the ball knocked loose Simpkins was able to put up a wild shot that bounced off of the rim, but Joe Smith was there for the game-winning tip-in to spoil the Blue Devils' senior night.
84-83 OT at #15 Georgetown (11/26/1993)
Down by 1, a steal by Kurtis Schultz gave the Terps the ball with 22 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Maryland tried to get the ball to Joe Smith, but the Hoyas blanketed Maryland's star freshman. This left Duane Simpkins an alley to drive and he hit the game-winning layup with 3.5 seconds remaining.
82-80 vs. #10 North Carolina (3/1/1992)
Walt Williams put back his own missed shot with 1.3 sec. left to give Maryland an 81-80 lead then his a FT with 0.1 left on the clock to seal the win over No. 10 UNC at Cole Field House.
Past 30 Years, But Who Could Forget …
47-46 OT vs. #1 Virginia (2/27/1982)
Adrian Branch hit a jumper at the free-throw line at the buzzer in OT to give the Terps the win over No. 1 Virginia at Cole Field House. This was the 2nd buzzer-beater of the game for Maryland, which took the game into OT on a last-second shot at the end of regulation by Herman Veal.
Not Buzzer-Beaters, But Worth Mentioning …
83-81 vs. #2 Duke (2/16/13)
Seth Allen hits two foul shots after being fouled by Quinn Cook with :02 to give Maryland the win over the Blue Devils at XFINITY Center. Duke tied game at 81-81 after trailing by three on three foul shots by Rasheed Suliamon after being fouled on a 3-pt shot by Jake Layman with 16 sec. left.
88-85 OT vs. #3 North Carolina (2/21/09)
While not a true buzzer-beater Greivis Vasquez's game-tying layup with :08 left deserves a mention, especially considering his 8-point performance in OT that sealed the win for the Terps.
Winning B1G Under Turgeon
The excitement and drama of the win at Wisconsin shouldn't overshadow Maryland's 25-point victory over Rutgers at XFINITY Center last Wednesday night.
The 88-63 win over the Scarlet Knights marks the largest margin of victory over a conference opponent since Maryland joined the Big Ten.
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That's not a large sample to be sure, but prior to the rout of Rutgers (during which Maryland actually opened up a 42-point lead, 77-35, with 8:43 remaining in the game) the largest margin of victory was 16 in a 75-59 win over Michigan State on January 17, 2015 (the largest Terp lead in that one was 21 at 63-42 with 6:03 left in the game).
The 25-point margin of victory is the second biggest conference win in Turgeon's Maryland tenure coming in one point behind the 86-60 win over Wake Forest on Feb. 2, 2013.
Since Turgeon became the head coach prior to the 2011-12 season the Terrapins have won four conference games by 20-or-more points.
+26 – 86-60 vs. Wake Forest (2/2/13)
+25 – 88-63 vs. Rutgers (1/6/16)
+23 – 94-71 vs. Virginia Tech (1/5/13)
+20 – 80-60 at Virginia Tech (2/1/14)
You can bump that number to six games if you include conference tournaments and games vs. current Big Ten foes in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
+22 – 82-60 vs. Wake Forest (3/8/12 – ACC Tournament)
+20 – 77-57 at Northwestern (11/27/12 – Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
If you want to include Turgeon's four seasons as Texas A&M's coach there are only three other conference games (Big 12) or games vs. current Big Ten teams that Turgeon's teams won by 20-or-more points.
+44 – 98-54 vs. Texas Tech (2/27/08)
+23 – 70-47 vs. Ohio State (11/23/07 – NIT Season Tip-Off)
+23 – 71-48 vs. Oklahoma State (1/12/11)
Turgeon's 44-point win over Texas Tech is tied for the Aggies biggest margin of victory in a Big 12 game.
Even throughout it's entire history, the Maryland men's basketball team has only beaten one other Big Ten program by more than 25 points and only two others by 20-or-more points.
+31 – 82-51 vs. Michigan (12/2/00 – BB&T Classic)
+23 – 62-39 at Penn State (12/1/10 – Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
+20 – 77-57 at Northwestern (11/27/12 – Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
If you're wondering what the largest margin of victory in a conference game is in the history of Maryland men's basketball the answer is 40, which the Terps actually accomplished on three different occasions, most recently in 2003.
+40 – 96-56 vs. North Carolina (2/23/03)
+40 – 99-59 vs. South Carolina (3/1/58)
+40 – 81-41 at Clemson (12/4/1953)
Starting Strong
As mentioned earlier, the 15-1 start (even with the loss to Michigan the Terps still started 15-1) is the men's basketball program's best start in school history.
The Terps started with a 14-1 record on three previous occasions, most recently being just last season.
The first time Maryland started 14-1 was in 1972-73 with a team that featured four double-digit scorers (all of whom scored more than 1,000 points during their Terrapin careers).
- Tom McMillen – 21.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg (1,807 career points)
- Jim O'Brien – 16.6 ppg (1,235 career points)
- John Lucas – 14.2 ppg, 5.9 apg (2,015 career points)
- Len Emore – 10.0 ppg, 11.2 rpg (1,017 career points)
That 1972-73 team would rank as high as No. 2 in the AP poll during the season and advanced to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight before bowing out to Providence.
Gary Williams' 1996-97 team was the next to start a season 14-1 and would go 17-3 in its first 20 games.
That team also boasted four double-digit scorers (three of which scored more than 1,000 career points).
- Keith Booth – 19.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg (1,776 career points)
- Laron Profit – 12.9 ppg (1,566 career points)
- Sarunas Jasikevicius – 10.6 ppg
- Obinna Ekezie – 10.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg (1,172 career points)
Despite the hot start, the 1996-97 team didn't get much respect in the polls during its 14-1 run, topping out at No. 11 in the AP poll right before suffering its second loss of the season at No. 3 Clemson on Jan. 15.
The Terps did get up to No. 5 with the AP following a road win at No. 2 Wake Forest, a win over Princeton in Baltimore and a home win over No. 10 Duke.
Maryland finished its season with a first-round defeat at the hands of the College of Charleston in the NCAA tournament.
Unlike the other two 14-1 teams, last season's team never lost consecutive games and had three different winning streaks of at least seven games.
The 2014-15 team was also difference from the 1972-73 and 1996-97 teams in that it only had three double-digit scorers.
Last season's team's top ranking in the AP poll during its 14-1 start was No. 11 just before its second loss of the season, which came at Illinois. For the season, Maryland peaked at No. 8 in the penultimate poll.
This season's team features five double-digit scorers in Trimble (14.1), Diamond Stone (13.6), Robert Carter Jr. (12.7), Jake Layman (11.1) and Rasheed Sulaimon (10.2) and has already been No. 2 in the AP Poll (week 4) and currently sits at No. 3.
In case you're wondering the best record for a Terrapin team through its first 20 games is 18-2, but that's a topic for another time.
Quick Hitters
There's so much to cover with the men's basketball team that it dominated our main stories, but here are quick looks at how the rest of Maryland's current teams are doing:
• The women's basketball team is 14-2 and in No. 8 in the AP poll following a 2-0 week highlighted by a 39-point home win over Nebraska and a 20-point road win in Brenda Frese's homecoming at Iowa.
During the trip to Iowa the Terps visited Frese's childhood home in Cedar Rapids, spending the evening at her parents' home and visiting with other family members. Her high school basketball coach, Paul James, came over and brought highlights of Frese leading her Washington High School team to its first state title in her senior season.
• Kerry McCoy's wrestling team picked up its first Big Ten win of the season, 26-10 over Michigan State in College Park on Jan. 10. The Terps fell behind early with only a Geoffrey Alexander win in their first three matches. But Maryland won six of the remaining seven matches, including major decisions by Wade Hodges (149 lbs.), Brendan Burnham (165 lbs.) and a fall by heavyweight Youssif Hemida, to take the match.
• Brett Nelligan's gymnastics squad kicked off its 2016 season with a quad meet at Pittsburgh and performed impressively. Maryland finished second with a 194.400, which is the program's highest score in a season-opening meet since posting a 195.00 in 2013 at NC State. Senior Kathy Tang led the way with a 39.025 all-around score, while Abbie Epperson had a 38.775 in the all-around. Those are impressive considering Maryland didn't have a single all-around performance last season. The last Maryland gymnast to compete as an all-arounder was Stephanie Giameo at the 2014 EAGL Championship.
• The women's indoor track & field team captured four titles in its 2016 opening meet – the Penn State Relays. The highlight of the meet was Micha Powell's 500m victory in a school-record time of 1:12.46. Powell also anchored the 4x400 relay team – with Taylor Tucker, Lisa Meneau and Thaila Cooper – that won the event with a time of 3:43.57. Breanna Coleman won the triple jump with a mark of 38-05.50.
• Baseball's Mike Shawaryn (AKA "The Unicorn") picked up another preseason honor this week when he was named a first team All-American by Perfect Game, one of the most respected scouting entities in the sport. The Terps, which are ranked 28th by Collegiate Baseball in its preseason poll, open the season with a three-game series at Alabama beginning on Feb. 19.
• Congratulations to men's lacrosse coach Kevin Conry on his promotion to associate head coach. Conry has led Maryland's defense to top-10 national rankings in each of his first three seasons in College Park and was recently named the 2015 IMLCA Assistant Coach of the Year.
• Of course some of the biggest news for Terps fans this week came out of the Gossett Football Team House when it was announced that William Likely will return for his senior season after weighing his options of declaring for the NFL Draft. Yet another reason for Maryland fans to buy their 2016 season tickets now.
Tweet of the Week
Wrapping Up
That's it for this edition of the umterps Notebook. Don't forget to follow Maryland athletics on all of the social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Patrick Fischer is the Director of Digital Media and Website Management for the University of Maryland Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Maryland athletics department or its athletics programs.
