Junior guard Dez Wells had a monster second half for the Maryland Terrapins, including hitting the winning three pointer with eight seconds to play, lifting his team to victory after they nearly lost a 10 point lead down the stretch, sending the Miami Hurricanes home losers, 74-71 at Comcast Center.
Wells, who played limited minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, was a perfect seven for seven from the field and six for six from the free throw line as he scored all of his 21 points in the second half. He also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. He did everything but sell tickets while leading his team to victory. The Terps improved to (12-9, 4-4 in ACC play).
Maryland appeared to be heading to an easy victory but the Hurricanes went on a late run to make the game exciting. A Wells free throw gave the Terps a 71-61 lead with 1:45 to play in the game. Maryland guard Seth Allen missed the front end of a one and one twice to give the Hurricanes life as they came back to tie the game at 71 on a Rion Brown three-pointer with 19 seconds to play. However, Wells calmy dribbled the ball between his legs before rising right before the three-point line and launching the game winning shot.
Aside from the meltdown at the end of the game, Maryland played one of its most complete games of the year. The Terps only had 10 turnovers compared to 15 assists in one of the few games where they had more assists than turnovers. They were also 10-21 from three point range for the game. Maryland was also an efficient eight for 10 from the free throw line in the second half.
Maryland also shot nearly 70 percent in the second half while building a 10 point lead. The Terps also played good full court defensive against a Miami team which was attempting to slow the game down.
The first half included three ties and seven lead changes as the Terrapins took a 30-29 lead into the break. Maryland began the second half hitting five of their first six shots while building an eight point lead at 43-35 with 16:14 to play in the game.
The Terps were never able to put away the Hurricanes and a three pointer by Brown gave Miami the lead at 55-54 with 8:37 to play. The Terps took the lead for good after a Nick Faust three gave the lead back to Maryland at 59-56 with 6:49 to play. The Canes never led again but did tie the game before the Dez dagger shot. The Terps fouled at the end of the game so Miami would not be able to get off a tying three pointer.
Terps Jake Layman and Evan Smotrycz had 15 points each as Smotrycz was three for four from long distance. Layman tied Wells with a team-leading four rebounds. Faust also had six points for Maryland.
The Hurricanes were led by Brown with 25 points and Manu Lecomte chipped in 19 points in a losing cause. Miami evened its record at (10-10, 2-6 in ACC play).
