As the final buzzer sounded Saturday afternoon, the sellout crowd at Xfinity Center stood and cheered. Another home victory, the last of the season, had come and gone. And the fans of No. 14 Maryland realized just how spoiled they have been.
The Terrapins played 19 home games this season and won 18 of them, capped by Saturday’s 66-56 victory over Michigan. With the win, Maryland finished 9-0 in Big Ten home games, completing an unbeaten home conference slate for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I’m 99.9 percent sure this is my first team in 17 years that’s gone undefeated in league play at home,” Turgeon said. “And I’ve had a lot of really good teams.”
In his postgame press conference, Turgeon singled out three “MVPs” responsible for such an accomplishment. The first was Senior Director of Marketing Lauren Taylor, who helped organize the flash mob during Tuesday’s game against Wisconsin and other in-game events throughout the season. Then Turgeon recognized the players and, finally, the fans.
Saturday’s game had an announced crowd of 17,950, marking the second consecutive sellout at Xfinity Center.
“I can think of three or four games this year that probably we shouldn’t come out on top, and our fans just wouldn’t let us lose,” Turgeon said. “And that’s why you come to Maryland, to be a part of an environment like that.”
SEE ALSO: Dez Wells leads No. 14 Maryland past Michigan on Senior Day
Since losing to No. 2 Virginia on Dec. 3, the Terrapins have rattled off 13 consecutive victories at home, including several nail-biters. Senior Dez Wells made a miraculous last-second putback to lead Maryland to a 68-67 win over Northwestern. Two weeks later, Yogi Ferrell’s last-second shot fell short and the Terrapins escaped with a 68-66 win over Indiana.
Wells said the streak of home success is no small feat.
“It means a lot to me,” Wells said. “It means more to the program and to the next wave of talent that comes in here. It means a lot to those guys as well. It means a lot right now, but I’m pretty sure 10 years from now and after the season, it’ll mean more to me at that particular moment. We still have a lot more basketball to play.”
The Terrapins will close out the regular season with road games at Rutgers on Thursday and Nebraska on March 8. They will then travel to the United Center in Chicago for the conference tournament, and their assigned NCAA Tournament site after that.
The 2014-15 home schedule is over, but the season winds on.
“We still have a lot to play for,” senior Evan Smotrycz said. “Hopefully we’re remembered for more than just being undefeated at home in Big Ten play.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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