The 6th-ranked Maryland Terrapins, ahead all game, withstood a furious Connecticut rally and held on to beat the Huskies 76-66, with the help of the UConn coach at the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden.
The Terps led the entire game by nearly double-digits but a 16-5 Huskies run closed the gap to 67-64 with 2:49 to go. But right after that clutch three-pointer from Daniel Hamilton, a foul was called on the Huskies.
Their coach, Kevin Ollie, upset with the call, swiped at some papers on the scoring table knocking them to the floor an earning a poorly-timed technical foul. The Terp’s Melo Trimble calmly sank three straight free throws to give his team some breathing room while silencing the Connecticut rally.
Trimble, who controlled the entire game with his stellar guard play, led all scorers with a season-high 25 points. Freshman Diamond Stone chipped in with 16 points for the Terps who improved to (8-1).
Maryland came up north ready to play and opened up a 20 point lead in the first half while playing their best half of the season and taking a 38-22 lead at the break.
The Terps led by double-digits most of the second half and were ahead 62-46 with 8:24 to go.
But the Huskies showed some bite and made their last run but a technical foul and Trimble, who sank 14 0f 15 free throws, secured the victory for Maryland.
The Terps dominated the rebounding battle 45-24, with Robert Carter Jr. leading the way with 11 boards to go along with eight points.
Neither team shot above 50 percent from the field and the Huskies were hampered with 8 for 28 shooting from the field in the first half.
Maryland went 23 of 29 from the free throw line while UConn was 9 for 12 from the charity stripe.
Hamilton led the Huskies with 23 points and it was his three-pointer that got Connecticut within three late in the game. Shonn Miller and Sterling Gibbs each added 12 points in a losing effort for the (5-3) Huskies.
