umterps Notebook: Records Fall
1/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Terrapin Athletics
Records Fall In Win Over Penn State
Count yourself lucky if you were at XFINITY Center last Wednesday to see the amazing 39-point performance by Maryland freshman Diamond Stone in a come-from-behind win over Penn State.
By this time you're probably aware that Stone set the single-game freshman scoring record, besting the previous mark of 33 points by Joe Smith vs. Rider on Nov. 30, 1993.
But, you might not be aware that Stone's 39 points are the most ever scored in XFINITY Center (or Comcast Center if you believe I'm using semantics to puff up Stone's accomplishment).
The previous top mark was 38 points by Wake Forest's Justin Grey in a 90-86 win for the Terps on Jan. 15, 2006. The best scoring game by a Terrapin was 35 points and was done twice. Nik Caner-Medley was the first to do it in an 80-69 Maryland win over Temple on Jan. 15, 2005. Greivis Vasquez then tied that mark in the unforgettable 88-85 overtime victory over No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 21, 2009.
Stone's 39-point showing makes him just the eighth Terrapin in the 93 seasons of Maryland's men's basketball program to score at least 39 points in a game. The others are:
- Ernest Graham, 44 vs. NC State (12/20/78)
- Al Bunge, 43 vs. Yale (1/4/60)
- Greivis Vasquez, 41 at Virginia Tech (2/27/10 - 2ot)
- Len Bias, 41 at Duke (1/25/86)
- Gene Shue, 41 vs. Washington & Lee (2/12/53), 40 vs. Wake Forest (3/6/53)
- Joe Smith, 40 vs. Duke (3/1/95)
- Diamond Stone, 39 vs. Penn State (12/30/15)
- Walt Williams, 39 vs. Wake Forest (1/22/92)
But the total points by a freshman wasn't the only record Stone set vs. the Nittany Lions. He also set the single-game record for free throw attempts (25) and free throws made (19). Keep in mind, those aren't freshman records, they are school records.
The previous free throws attempted record was 24 by Keith Booth in a 74-68 win over George Washington on Dec. 9, 1996. In that game Booth made 16 of the 24 free throw attempts and finished with 29 points.
The mark for free throws made in a game stood for even longer before Stone's big game. Tom McMillen set the previous record of 17 makes in an 86-77 win over Canisius on Dec. 17, 1971. McMillen needed just 20 attempts to sink his 17 free throws and finished the game with 33 points and 19 rebounds.
Of course, what makes Stone's performance even more impressive is that he scored 32 of the 39 points in the second half, which accounted for all of the Terps' points off the bench and 68% of the team's 47 total points in the half.
Stone was especially great with the clock running down. After Penn State took a 62-60 lead with 3:12 left to play, Stone made a layup to tie the game at 62-62 at the 2:48 mark and then scored the game's next four points on free throw attempts to give the Terps a four-point lead that they would never relinquish.
Coming Through In The Clutch
It would be easy to overlook everything else besides Diamond Stone's performance in the win over the Nittany Lions, but fans shouldn't forget the clutch shots by Melo Trimble and Robert Carter Jr. down the stretch.
For Trimble the Penn State game was a mostly forgettable one as he missed his first seven three-point shots and had just four points with just one made field goal in the first 35 minutes of the game.
But Trimble did was great players do – he kept shooting. And with Maryland down by eight points with 5:24 remaining in the game he connected on his first three-pointer of the game. After a big dunk by Stone (on a rebound off of a missed shot by Trimble) cut the Penn State lead to three, Trimble scored again from distance to tie the game at 60-60 with 3:49 to play.
Maryland couldn't put the game out of reach in the final minute and held a precarious two-point lead, 66-64, following a layup by PSU's Brandon Taylor with 57 seconds on the clock.
That's when Carter stepped up and made his first 3-pointer since 17:43 of the 1st half.
Following Taylor's make, Trimble took the ball down the right side of the court. A pick and slip by Carter caused Taylor to come off of Carter and Trimble flipped to a wide-open Carter at the top of the key and his shot found nothing but net to give Maryland a five-point lead with 31 seconds remaining.
It just goes to show that sometimes it's not what you do, but when you do it.
For what it's worth – Trimble bounced back in a big way at Northwestern, scoring 24 points (one shy of his season high) and a team-best eight rebounds.
Also bouncing back was Rasheed Sulaimon. After scoring just one point vs. Penn State, Sulaimon scored 16 points, grabbed six boards and dished out six assists vs. the Wildcats.
The Sky Isn't Falling
The Maryland women's basketball team has dropped two of its last three games, but Terp fans should take this in stride (and not a sign of an impending zombie apocalypse).
This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, in each of the past six seasons Maryland has had at least one two-game skid during the season and had three-game losing streaks three times.
The last time Maryland had back-to-back losses was just last season with a loss to Washington State on Nov. 29, 2014 in the San Juan Shootout and a road loss to Notre Dame on Dec. 3, 2014 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Terps lost three straight during the 2013-14 season with consecutive losses at Virginia (Jan. 23), vs. Notre Dame (Jan. 27) and at NC State (Jan. 30).
What does each of the last two seasons have in common for the Terps – they both saw Maryland reach the Final Four.
While that doesn't prove that this year's team is headed for Indianapolis in April, it certainly does show that seasons are not defined by a few games here or there in the regular season.
Quick Hitters
• The men's basketball team is 13-1 heading into tonight's game at XFINITY Center vs. Rutgers. That's only two games shy of last season's 15-1 start.
• In case you missed it, the Maryland men's lacrosse team, which is No. 4 in the preseason rankings, released its 2016 schedule and it features non-conference home games vs. Navy (Feb. 13), High Point (Feb. 20), No. 11 Albany (Mar. 16) and No. 5 North Carolina (Mar. 26), as well as Big Ten home games vs. Rutgers (Apr. 16) and No. 13 Ohio State (Apr. 24). Season tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased by clicking here.
• The 2016 women's lacrosse schedule is also out and the two-time defending NCAA champions will begin its quest for three straight on Feb. 13 vs. William & Mary. The Terps' early schedule is loaded with road games at No. 2 North Carolina (Feb. 27), at No. 3 Syracuse (Mar. 12), at No. 7 Florida (Mar. 19) and at No. 14 Penn (Mar. 23).
Maryland also has a challenging home schedule with games vs. No. 5 Northwestern (Mar. 31), No. 23 Cornell (Apr. 2) and No. 16 Ohio State (Apr. 16).
The late slate is also tough with a road game at No. 6 Penn State closing out the regular season on Apr. 28.
• This Sunday marks the season opener for the Maryland gymnastics team with a quad-meet at Pittsburgh along with Eastern Michigan and Towson. Senior Kathy Tang and junior Sarah Faller will look to lead a talented group to its eighth straight NCAA Regional appearance in 2016.
• The Terrapin wrestling team returns to duel match competition this week for the first time since Dec. 8 after competing in tournament and open fields during the winter break. Maryland is at No. 21 Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 8 before returning to College Park to host Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 10.
The Minnesota match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network at 9 p.m. ET, while the Michigan State match will be streamed on BTN2Go.
• Congratulations to Terp alums Nick Novak (Houston Texans), Stefon Diggs & Shaun Hill (Minnesota Vikings), Darrius Heyward-Bey (Pittsburgh Steelers), Vernon Davis & Darius Kilgo (Denver Broncos) and A.J. Francis (Seattle Seahawks) on advancing to the NFL playoffs. Good luck to all of you.
Tweet of the Week
What an incredible year to be a Terp! What were your fave moments of 2015? #FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/trIPvXMKRm
— Maryland Women's Lax (@MarylandWLax) January 1, 2016
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.
