The #19th-ranked Maryland Terrapins rebounded from a poor first half, with a burst in the second and went on to beat the pesky USC Upstate Spartans 67-57 at an 11am tipoff at Xfinity Center.
The Terrapins were behnind 28-24 at the break but a 19-9 run to open the second half gave Maryland some breathing room. They outscored the Spartans 43-29 in the second frame to improve to (10-1) for the season.
The game was still close at the 1:56 mark of the second half as the Spartans hit a three to make the score 61-57. Terp junior Jake Layman then answered with a three-pointer to make the score 64-57 with 1:36 to go.
That would be as close as the Spartans would get as Terp freshman Melo Trimble made the final two free throws of the game to give his team the 10 point cushion.
Layman led the Terps in scoring with 17 points, all but one scored in the deciding second half. Trimble added a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
It could have been the early start but it was probably the Spartans 2-3 zone that gave the Terps fits in the first half. Maryland turned into a long distance shooting team in the first half and jacked up 17 shots from three point land. Only two hit their intended target and they would need a different strategy to pull out the win in the second half.
Besides taking the ball to the basket in the second half they also got a lift from forward Evan Smotrycz who was coming back from a foot injury. He lasted 18 minutes and scored 10 points while grabbing six rebounds
The Spartans were led in scoring by Fred Miller and Michael Buchanan who both scored 13 points. Ty Green added 11 points and ShunQuez Stephens tied Buchanan with a team-high six rebounds in a losing effort for the (8-3) Spartans.
