Maryland Basketball: Melo Trimble leads Terps past Northwestern

Melo Trimble came into Wednesday’s game struggling to make shots.

Trimble certainly put those concerns to rest. The Maryland guard scored a career-high 32 points and led the Terrapins to a 74-64 win over Northwestern.

Maryland only trailed for 18 seconds in the beginning of the contest.

Trimble made 12 of his 16 shots from the field. He had previously scored 31 points twice, which came against Arizona State as a freshman and earlier this season against Richmond.

Entering Wednesday, he had made just three of his last 22 attempts from beyond the arc.

As a team, Maryland thrived from deep as they connected on 8-of-18 shots from that area.

Maryland made three of their first four shots out of the gate and jumped out to a 9-2 lead. That included a three from Melo Trimble, who had easily his best game of the season.

With 7:44 left in the first half, Trimble converted a layup to give the Terps a 20-11 lead. It capped a 7-0 run that Trimble went on by himself.

Northwestern hung around and only trailed by nine points at several points late in the first half. Trimble was able to finish a tough layup at the basket and was fouled to end the first half.

He made the free throw and gave Maryland a 32-22 advantage at halftime.

The Terps came out firing in the second half as they connected on nine of their first 10 shots. The stretch was highlighted by a pair of threes from Trimble, who seemed unstoppable from the outside all night.

Maryland increased their lead to 51-33 with 14:05 left in the game. It also didn’t hurt that Northwestern missed six shots during those first six minutes.

As the second half went on, the theme didn’t change for the Terps.

Trimble thrived on getting to the rim and converting tough layups. The former Bishop O’Connell (Va.) star also made shots from deep as he drilled four of his five three-point attempts.

Northwestern did manage to make a run late in the game. The Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to cut the Terps lead to 66-57 with 3:20 left.

However, Maryland was able to make their free throws down the stretch and cruise to the win. The Terps were able to edge the Wildcats on the glass by a 40-31 margin.

Next: Youth movement coming on the defensive line

Things don’t get any easier as Maryland travels to Wisconsin for a Sunday afternoon date with the Badgers.