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Maryland Basketball: Melo Trimble will be key ingredient

By Chris Bengel

Jan 10, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) dribbles up the court during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Xfinity Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Indiana Hoosiers 75-72. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) dribbles up the court during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Xfinity Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Indiana Hoosiers 75-72. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Melo Trimble has been the face of the Maryland program over the past three years.

If the Terrapins are going to make a postseason run, Saturday’s game showed that it’s going to start and end with the junior guard.

In Saturday’s 63-60 win over Michigan State, Maryland found themselves in a tie game with just over six seconds remaining. It’s always been clear that Trimble’s bread-and-butter has been driving to the basket.

However, despite coach Mark Turgeon telling him to drive, Trimble elected to hoist up the game-winning three and he made it without even flinching.

Trimble certainly has had a flair for the dramatic during his time in College Park. The game-winning shot against Wisconsin on the road immediately should come to mind of many Maryland fans.

The numbers speak for themselves when it comes to Trimble.

On the season, Trimble is averaging 16.9 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 33.5 percent from beyond the arc. He is also shooting 43.8 percent from the field.

The former Bishop O’Connell (Va.) standout has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.

Trimble is the type of player that can shoulder the scoring load on most nights. For example, earlier last month, the Maryland guard averaged 29.5 points during a two-game stretch against Northwestern and Wisconsin.

When Trimble is hitting shots from the outside, he is extremely hard to slow down.

Trimble has also been helped by the play of Anthony Cowan at times this season.

Cowan has been the primary ball-handler for the Terps a large amount of the time. While he doesn’t shoot the jump shot as well as Trimble, he still excels at driving to the basket.

It has also taken a lot of the pressure off of Trimble. Trimble has been able to play off the ball and be the team’s top scoring options a large majority of the time.

Trimble is going to have to be Maryland’s top scoring option if the Terps want to make a run in both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. Maryland is going to have to beat both Purdue and Wisconsin most likely to earn the conference tournament title.

Next: Terps complete sweep of Irish Classic

His ability to score in a variety of different ways will be huge as it’s been throughout his entire career.