The 4th-ranked Maryland Terrapins, in a game of runs, had the last one and their second half surge allowed them to defeat the Marshall Thundering Herd, 87-67 over Christmas break at the Xfinity Center.
Maryland, coming off of a five day break, jumped out to a 29-16 lead on a layup by Rasheed Sulaimon, but the Thundering Herd responded with a 17-5 run cutting the Terps lead to 34-33. Maryland then went on their own 12-3 burst to close out the half with a 46-36 lead.
From there, they were never really threatened as a rebound and layup by freshman sensation Diamond Stone gave them a 52-38 lead with 15:59 to go in the game. Melo Trimble later scored five straight points to up the lead to 57-41 with 13:28 to go and the rout was on.
When senior Jake Layman hit a 3-pointer as part of the Terps game-defining 23-13 run to start the second half, the lead swelled to 69-49 with 9:45 to play in the game.
Robert Carter Jr, led the Terps with 19 points and eight rebounds, and it was his drive and slam that gave the Terps a 71-49 lead and put the exclamation point on the victory as they closed out their non-conference schedule going (11-1). Their only lose was to North Carolina on the road as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Stone ended the game with 16 points on 8 for 10 shooting. Sulaimon added 14 points four rebounds and two steals. Trimble finished with 13 points and a team-high seven assists. Layman finished with eight points and so did freshman guard Jalen Brantley, who came off the bench to provide a spark and it was his jumper that gave Maryland its largest lead of the game at 82-55 with 4:15 to go in the contest. The Terps later emptied the bench and the team jumped for joy when seldom-used Trevor Anzmann hit a three-pointer making the score 85-61 with 36 seconds to play.
The Terps won the rebounding battle 44-37. Their defense held the Thundering Herd to 35 percent shooting from the floor and Marshall was only one of 13 on three-pointers in the second half. By contrast, the Terps shot 52 percent from the field and were nearly 50 percent, 13 of 27 from long distance.
Marshall was led in scoring by four players, Stevie Browning, Jon Elmore, Austin Loop and C. J. Burks who each finished with 11 points. A trio of players, Browning, Ryan Taylor and James Kelly led the team in rebounding with seven in a losing effort for the (4-9) Thundering Herd.
