Maryland G Dez Wells to miss 4 weeks with fractured wrist

Dez Wells, Maryland's leading scorer and one of the key components in their 5-0 start, fractured his wrist during the Terrapins' 72-63 win over Iowa State in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic title and will miss four weeks, the school announced Friday. If that timetable is accurate, Wells will miss games against Monmouth, VMI, Virginia, Winthrop, NC Central, USC Upstate and Oklahoma State, but will be back before conference play begins.

"Dez has been playing at a very high level and we will certainly miss our team leader," Turgeon said in the release.  "I am extremely disappointed for Dez because I know how hard he has worked in the offseason to prepare for his senior season."

Wells is averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game, with 4.8 rebounds (fourth on the team) and 2.6 assists per game (tops on the team). He was selected to the CBE Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists during victories over Arizona State and Iowa State. Wells is also tied for the team lead in minutes and holds commanding leads in percentage of possessions used and shot percentage -- he's Maryland's most used offensive player by some margin.

Maryland is expected to get starting power forward Evan Smotrycz back from injury some time in the next few weeks. In Wells' absence, Maryland may use more sets with two big men and have Richaud Pack take his place, or we may see more of impressive freshmen Dion Wiley and Jared Nickens.