Maryland Basketball: Melo Trimble never afraid of the moment
By Chris Bengel
Melo Trimble beat Wisconsin on a last-second three-pointer on Saturday afternoon.
In doing so, Trimble showed that he is never afraid of the moment.
Maryland certainly got all they could handle against unranked Wisconsin on the road. However, it didn’t stop Trimble from hitting a game-winning three with just 1.2 seconds remaining in the game.
When the rest of his team was cold, Trimble was scalding hot in the second half.
Trimble finished with 21 points (9-of-17) and five assists against the Badgers. The Bishop O’Connell (Va.) product also scored 13 of those points in the second half, including connecting on five of his last eight field goal attempts.
The sophomore guard went on a personal 10-0 run over a 2:10 period of time to push the Terrapins’ lead out to 56-48.
As impressive was this performance was for Trimble, it wasn’t the first time we’ve seen this from the Maryland point guard.
In Trimble’s first Big Ten game against Michigan State on Dec. 30, 2014, the star point guard scored 17 points in a narrow 68-66 double overtime win against the Spartans. One of the main reasons for the victory, aside from Dez Wells‘ game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation, was Trimble’s play down the stretch.
Trimble scored 15 of his points in the second half or overtime. He also netted six of his team’s final eight points in the first Big Ten of the 2014-15 season for the Terps.
The former four-star recruit also came up big against Wisconsin in their only meeting last season.
Trimble scored Maryland’s final six points in a 59-53 upset of the then-ranked No. 5 Badgers at home last February. He hit a pair of tough layups before hitting a pair of free throws to seal the game after he drove and drew a foul against Frank Kaminsky.
The theme continued on March 8, 2015 when Maryland needed every point they could muster against against an upset-minded Nebraska team. Trimble scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half to help the Terps win 64-61.
Maryland trailed by as many as six points on multiple occasions in the second half.
It’s pretty clear that the Maryland point guard doesn’t shy away from the big moment. Even in the Terps’ loss to North Carolina earlier this season, Trimble went blow-for-blow with Marcus Paige and nearly came out on top.
Maryland certainly has a special player running the team right now. This may not be the last we’ve seen of Trimble’s heroics.