Michigan State guard Lourawls Nairn shuffled to his left and couldn’t stop from falling.
As Maryland point guard Melo Trimble rose for a straightaway 3-pointer at the end of the first half Saturday afternoon, Nairn stumbled backwards and put his right hand on the ground for support. The ball swished through the net, sending the capacity crowd at College Park into a frenzy. Maryland’s heralded freshman pumped his fist.
Nairn wasn’t the first victim of Trimble’s shifty ball-handling skills, and he certainly won’t be the last.
Before a sellout crowd and nationally-televised audience, Trimble led the 14th-ranked Terrapins to a 75-59 victory over Michigan State. He scored 21 of his game-high 24 points in the first half as Maryland improved to 17-2 this season and moved into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a 5-1 record.
Junior forward Jake Layman was equally instrumental in the victory, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Dez Wells finished with nine points and five assists in what coach Mark Turgeon said was “one of his best games.”
Put it all together, the fourth-year coach said, and you’ve got a great conference win.
“That’s what I’ve been waiting for,” Turgeon said. “We haven’t, I don’t think, played our best basketball recently. And our guys stepped up today and really played well. Melo and Jake carried us offensively in the first half. I’ve seen Melo do that many times. It was great to see.”
Trimble started the scoring with a 3-pointer nearly two minutes into the game. And for the rest of the first half, the freshman said he felt like he was back at nearby Bishop O’Connell High School, scoring seemingly at will in any situation. He hit 7 of 11 shots, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, with the last following the aforementioned crossover.
In one stretch midway through the period, Trimble scored 13 consecutive points, including a trio of 3-pointers to push Maryland’s lead to 27-16. He finished with 21 points in the half.
“Things was just dropping for me,” Trimble said.
With their red-hot point guard leading the way, the Terrapins carried a 14-point lead into the break and maintained that advantage for the remainder of the afternoon. It was in stark contrast to the previous meeting between the two teams a little less than three weeks ago, a defensive slugfest which Maryland won in double-overtime, 68-66.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said there were two main differences between that game and this one: His team’s ineptitude, and Maryland’s shooting.
“They’re good. They’re really good,” Izzo said. “And if they shoot like that, they’re great.”
Although the Terrapins went more than 10 minutes without making a field goal in the second half, they sealed Saturday’s victory as they have won so many others this season: By making free throws and playing steady defense. They held the Spartans’ leading scorer, Travis Trice, to five points on 2-for-8 shooting. Branden Dawson led Michigan State with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“We had a better feel for personnel, and that helped a lot,” Jared Nickens said. “We knew who to help off, who to trail on screens, who to box out, stuff like that. It definitely helped a lot. Having played them once and the scouting report, just made it that much more fresh in our minds. We just knew what we had to do.”
After the game, the Terrapins returned to the locker room, where several players — including Trimble — saw the replay of his memorable crossover at the end of the first half. “It’s nice,” the freshman said with a grin.
Like that individual moment of brilliance, Trimble’s performance Saturday didn’t surprise his Maryland teammates, nor their coach.
“It doesn’t shock me, and his confidence doesn’t shock me,” Turgeon said. “When you’re playing in front of a crowd like that, how can you not be having fun?”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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