Testudo Times - Big Ten/ACC Challenge 2015: Maryland vs. North Carolina updatesSB Nation's award-winning Maryland Terrapins sitehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50025/testudo-fav.png2015-12-04T06:30:02-05:00http://www.testudotimes.com/rss/stream/95780312015-12-04T06:30:02-05:002015-12-04T06:30:02-05:00Film review: Maryland vs. North Carolina
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<p>Breaking down Maryland's loss to the Tar Heels.</p> <p>Maryland suffered its<a href="http://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/1/9833534/terps-unc-basketball-game-2015-final-score-results"> first defeat</a> Tuesday night, an 8-point loss to the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels on the road at the Dean Dome. <span>The loss was anything but concerning, as the Terrapins committed several costly mistakes that should have had the No. 2 team in the country trailing by more than just six points at the end of the first half.</span></p>
<p>Here are five takeaways from Maryland's first game against a ranked opponent.</p>
<p><b>1. Maryland turned the ball over 22 times, and eight of those belonged to Melo Trimble.</b></p>
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<p>Committing 13 turnovers in the first half alone was less than ideal. North Carolina runs its offense at a quick rate and holds the 38th quickest adjusted tempo rate in the nation <a target="_blank" href="http://kenpom.com/summary.php?s=RankAdjTempo">according to KenPom</a>. Part of the reason the Tar Heels are able to play at such a fast rate is their tight defense over half court. Maryland played into North Carolina's pace, disrupted by the defense, and the Terrapins, who run at the <a target="_blank" href="http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=Maryland">283rd quickest adjusted tempo</a>, struggled mightily and fell out of rhythm early.</p>
<p><b>2. Maryland's offense couldn't take the Tar Heels' bigs.</b></p>
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<p>The strength of North Carolina's bigs was too much for Diamond Stone, Robert Carter and Maryland's unfamiliar frontcourt. The Tar Heels forced the Terps' bigs to catch the ball farther away from the hoop than they're used to, causing flustered play and extra unprotected dribbles. Maryland had to rely on its guard play to stay in the game, something they'd done a good job of avoiding all season.</p>
<p><b>3. Maryland's defense struggled against North Carolina's bigs.</b></p>
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<p>Diamond Stone's inexperience showed as center Kennedy Meeks scored 12 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Robert Carter was the first starter sent to the bench after his poor defensive play as forward Brice Johnson poured in 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Mark Turgeon's defense is nowhere close to its potential yet, which is expected when incorporating two fresh bodies to the team's starting big-man positions. Collapsed defensive effort around the rim led to quick lay-ins and alley-oops for the Heels, and made Maryland's comeback all the more difficult.</p>
<p><b>4. and 5. Rasheed Sulaimon and Melo Trimble's fantastic guard play.</b></p>
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<p>The duo combined for 41 of Maryland's 81 points and were essentially Maryland's only offensive weapons in the second half. Melo Trimble looked like a true player of the year candidate with 23 points and 12 assists of his own, more than making up for his early-game turnovers. Rasheed Sulaimon was his perfect complement as the senior deflected ACC-rivalry boos from his time with Duke, to score 18 points including five made 3-point attempts.</p>
<p>The Terps look to <a href="http://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/3/9838386/maryland-st-francis-basketball-game-preview-2015-tv">regain balance</a> at home Friday against St. Francis.</p>
https://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/4/9846824/terps-highlights-unc-statsMatt Ellentuck2015-12-02T10:52:27-05:002015-12-02T10:52:27-05:00Trimble played like a superstar against UNC
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<p>Maryland's star guard reminded everyone why he was voted the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.</p> <p>Melo Trimble's best game of the young season wasn't enough to put Maryland over North Carolina at the Dean Dome on Tuesday night. The Terps fell to the Tar Heels 89-81, but Trimble's 23-point, 12-assist performance left Maryland fans with something to savor after the Dean Dome had emptied and Scott Van Pelt had finished hosting SportsCenter on a more somber note than usual.</p>
<p>Trimble hit 8 of 14 field goal attempts, good for a 75.1 percent true shooting percentage, including 4 of 5 from deep. He scored 17 points and dished 6 assists in the second half alone, battling with UNC's Marcus Paige in what could go down as Maryland's most exciting game of the season.</p>
<p>"Melo's a winner," said coach Mark Turgeon. "Guy's incredible."</p>
<p>In the second half, Trimble scored or assisted on 31 of the Terrapins' 46 points and completely took over the reigns of the offense after looking completely rattled early. North Carolina pushed the pace from the get-go, forcing players out of their comfort zones and making them take some shots they don't usually take. Trimble's controlled and collected effort steadied the Terrapins towards a late-game comeback before the Tar Heels ultimately pulled away.</p>
<p>In the process of carrying Maryland's offense, Trimble put North Carolina guard Nate Britt on skates with a crossover in the second half.</p>
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<p>North Carolina had a guard who was equal to Trimble in almost every way. Paige didn't have any semblance of rust in his season debut after missing the team's first six games with a right wrist injury. He and Trimble exchanged 3-pointers twice within no more than 13 seconds or less in the second half. Paige finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 5 assists and just 1 turnover in 34 minutes.</p>
<p>Paige's scoring and passing may not have exceeded what Trimble did, but his ability to take care of the ball did.</p>
<p>The Tar Heels' traps and double-teams gave Trimble trouble at the start, causing him to turn the ball over four times in the game's first 12 minutes. Trimble's early performance was reminiscent of his stint on Team USA in the Pam Am Games, where he was overwhelmed by the length and pressure of opposing defenses. This was part of the reason Maryland dug itself into a hole early, trailing by 13 points with just over 7 minutes remaining in the first half.</p>
<p>"In the first half I was a little bit tight out there," said Trimble. "I was too worried about all the hype and the fans and I didn't let the game come to me until towards the end of the second half."</p>
<p>North Carolina was aggressive early, giving an early-December matchup a taste of what March may have to offer.</p>
<p>"I thought he got tackled on 4 of his 8 turnovers," said Turgeon. "So 12 assists, 4 turnovers is the way I look at it."</p>
<p>Either way, it was a promising night for the sophomore, who earned a new career high in assists and stepped up in the team's biggest non-conference game of the season. Maryland may have lost, but Trimble's complete takeover after recovering from an early struggle on the road against one of the top teams in the nation was a very encouraging sign for the Terrapins.</p>
https://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/2/9834250/terps-north-carolina-final-game-stats-melo-trimble-2015Matt Ellentuck2015-12-02T10:01:04-05:002015-12-02T10:01:04-05:00Advanced stats review: North Carolina
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<p>The advanced stats review on Maryland's first loss of the year. </p> <p>Welcome to a new feature around these parts: advanced statistical recaps of every Maryland men's basketball game. The concept here draws on research by Dean Oliver on the "<a href="http://www.rawbw.com/~deano/articles/20040601_roboscout.htm">four factors</a>" that key team efficiency: effective field goal percentage (eFG%), turnover percentage (TOV%), offensive rebounding percentage (ORB%) and free throw attempts per field goal attempt (FT/FGA).</p>
<p>Oliver's research suggests, and years of data corroborates, that winning the game on both ends of the floor in these four categories makes a team very likely to win a given game, and vice versa. The stats are pretty simple: eFG% is a simple shooting percentage that weights 3-pointers as being 50 percent more valuable than 2-pointers. TOV% is the percentage of a team's possessions that end in a turnover. ORB% is the percentage of a team's missed shots it gets back on rebounds. And FT/FGA measures how often a team gets to the foul line.</p>
<p>So, let's get into Maryland's effort against North Carolina:</p>
<h5>Shooting</h5>
<p><b>Maryland: 61 eFG% / North Carolina: 60.5 eFG% / National average: 49.4 eFG%</b></p>
<p>Maryland's shooting was a bit frustrating all night, because Jake Layman and Jared Nickens had a tough time hitting on a few wide-open looks and a few players missed lay-ups. Some of us even felt, in the moment, like that was why Maryland lost. Not true. Maryland actually shot slightly better than North Carolina from the field, bolstered by 12 made 3-pointers against 9 for Carolina.</p>
<h5>Turnovers</h5>
<p><b>Maryland: 24.8 TOV% / North Carolina: 17 TOV% / National average: 18.5 TOV%</b></p>
<p>Maryland took it on the chin here. The Terps gave the ball up on a full one in four possessions, and that's the exact opposite of how you beat a top-10 team on the road. North Carolina attempted 62 shots against 59 for Maryland, which is probably worth a 3- or 4-point swing on its own. That's because Maryland kept giving up the ball.</p>
<h5>Offensive rebounding</h5>
<p><b>Maryland: 25 ORB% / North Carolina: 30 ORB% / National average: 30.4 ORB %</b></p>
<p>The Terps actually did a decent job sealing their own defensive glass, but North Carolina extended enough possessions to make things hard on Maryland. North Carolina won the second-chance points game by a 10-6 margin. It's easy to see how these things start to add up when a team loses by 8 points.</p>
<h5>Free throw attempts</h5>
<p><b>Maryland: 0.153 FT/FGA / North Carolina 0.226 FT/FGA / National average: 0.377 FT/FGA</b></p>
<p>A classic strength of Maryland's eluded it. The Terps didn't foul much on defense, but they only got to the charity stripe 11 times in total. Melo Trimble, who might be the best player in the country at getting to the line, only took 3 foul shots all night. This is usually something that bolsters Maryland's efficiency a ton, but that didn't happen here.</p>
<p>For a detailed accounting of Maryland's advanced-stats efforts in every game so far, go <a href="http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/maryland/2016-gamelogs.html">here</a>.</p>
https://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/2/9834858/terps-unc-stats-game-final-score-2015Alex Kirshner2015-12-02T01:04:25-05:002015-12-02T01:04:25-05:00Rasheed Sulaimon hits his stride
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<p>The former Duke guard returned to a familiar place and had his best game of the year. It just wasn't quite enough.</p> <p><span>When the public address announcer at the Dean Smith Center read off, "No. 0, Rasheed Sulaimon" during starting lineup introductions on Tuesday night, it was clear North Carolina fans hadn't forgotten. They booed Sulaimon all night, paying special attention to the 6'4 guard and former Duke Blue Devil. </span></p>
<p>"I just tried to do whatever I could to help my team win," said Sulaimon. "At the end of the day, I mean, it'd be hard to say I tuned [the crowd noise] out, because there's 20-plus thousand people, but I tried my best to try and invest all my energy into my team."</p>
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<p>Having played at the Dean Dome twice before in his three years with Duke, he came into Tuesday night's game no stranger to playing in one of the toughest arenas in the country.</p>
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<p>"[Sulaimon] played on a team that's probably the most hated team in America everywhere he went, so he's used to it," said coach Mark Turgeon. "He probably thrived on it."</p>
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<p>He did exactly that, converting on five 3-point attempts to score 18 points. He added 3 assists, 3 rebounds, a block and a steal in No. 2 Maryland's tough-fought 89-81 loss to the No. 9 Tar Heels.</p>
<p>Maryland's starting backcourt, which includes phenom Melo Trimble – who finished the night with 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting – contributed to slightly more than half of the team's point total.</p>
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<p>"[They wanted] to make a personal vendetta and get me out of my game," said Sulaimon. So I just tried to totally invest in our team and whatever the team needed me to do to help us win."</p>
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<p>The Terrapins didn't escape with the win, but they played reasonably encouraging basketball in the second half, pulling what was a 13-point deficit in the first half to a 1-point lead midway through the second before things fell apart.</p>
<p>Sulaimon's 12-point second half effort was a major factor in the comeback.</p>
<p>"I'm glad we got him," Turgeon said. "He's a smart player. A good player. A great leader. I think I've got the best backcourt in the country."</p>
<p>Sulaimon may be Maryland's most important offseason addition, especially after the team's presumed starting shooting guard, Dion Wiley, tore his meniscus before the season's opener. His leadership is evident, something necessary when replacing the very vocal former Terrapin two-guard, Dez Wells.</p>
<p>"I felt his emotion before the game, and just how much he wanted to win this game," said Trimble. "During the game, I wasn't doing too good, and he just told me he was going to lead me."</p>
<p>The former Blue Devil is starting to mesh well in red and black.</p>
<p>"I'm a Maryland Terp now," said Sulaimon. "The past is the past, and you can only go forward in life."</p>
https://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/2/9833870/rasheed-sulaimon-terps-stats-uncMatt Ellentuck2015-12-02T00:01:44-05:002015-12-02T00:01:44-05:00Turgeon: I have 'best backcourt in the country'<h3 class="link-title"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/JPFinlayCSN/status/671915229815701505">After North Carolina loss, Mark Turgeon says he thinks Maryland has 'the best backcourt in the&nbsp;country'</a></h3>
<div class="description"><p><p>Maryland lost to North Carolina on Tuesday night, but not because of its guard play. Melo Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon were magnificent: Trimble had 23 points and 12 assists, while Sulaimon had 18 points himself. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon likes his guys.</p></p></div>
https://www.testudotimes.com/2015/12/2/9833850/after-north-carolina-loss-mark-turgeon-says-he-thinks-maryland-hasAlex Kirshner2015-12-01T23:28:39-05:002015-12-01T23:28:39-05:00No. 2 Maryland falls at North Carolina
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<p>An exciting game got away from the Terps in the final minutes. </p> <p>The No. 2 Maryland men's basketball team took its first loss of the season on Tuesday night, falling 89-81 to North Carolina on a back-and-forth night that saw elite individual efforts from both sides.</p>
<p>Melo Trimble led Maryland with 23 points and 12 assists in one of the great games of his college career. Rasheed Sulaimon, in his best showing yet at Maryland, added 18. North Carolina point guard Marcus Paige shined in his first game of the season with his own 20-and-5 line, countering Trimble and powering the Tar Heels to a win at the Dean Smith Center.</p>
<p>The loss leaves Maryland at 6-1, and probably in line for a slight dip in national polls next week. The Terps return home to face Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday night.</p>
<p>Maryland struggled through a turnover-infested first half, in which the Terps coughed up the ball a full 13 times to the Tar Heels. That Maryland managed to get into halftime down just 41-35, against the backdrop, was fortunate, but the Terps got pairs of 3-pointers from Jared Nickens and Sulaimon to keep them close and set up a competitive ending.</p>
<p>The game got really fun once the second half started. Maryland charged back to even the score at 53 on a Sulaimon triple before the half's first media timeout, and the game's pace started to pick up. Maryland and North Carolina traded blow after blow in prefacing a frenetic finish. Trimble and Paige hit each other back and forth, and the game sped into a title bout. Trimble was ridiculous:</p>
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<p>Down the stretch, though, Maryland's offense went cold. Carolina's didn't, and the Tar Heels managed to pull away. Maryland didn't make enough of its open shots to climb back after falling into a hole.</p>
<h4>Three things to know</h4>
<p><b>1. Maryland's struggles made its upside obvious</b>. The Terps were exceptionally flat in the first half – against a top-10 team, on the road, in one of the sport's toughest venues. They managed to stay within two scores and ultimately come back to level in the second half. That's impressive.</p>
<p><b>2. The point guard matchup was something to see. </b>How about Trimble and Paige? Both will be in the NBA soon, and they showed why on Tuesday night. Trimble finished with 23 points and 12 assists, Paige with 20 and 5. But their games were more fun even than that. They seemed to be matching each other step for step, and a good basketball crowd at the Dean Dome ate it all up. What a couple of players they are.</p>
<p><b>3. But, really, about those turnovers. </b>Maryland finished with 21 of them. That's not ordinarily going to work. The Terps need to tighten up in that regard before Big Ten play gets churning in the winter.</p>
https://www.testudotimes.com/maryland-terrapins-basketball/2015/12/1/9833534/terps-unc-basketball-game-2015-final-score-resultsAlex Kirshner2015-12-01T22:59:10-05:002015-12-01T22:59:10-05:00Maryland guard Melo Trimble just broke Nate Britt's ankles with this absurd move<h3 class="link-title"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/MattNorlander/status/671898488645492737">Maryland guard Melo Trimble just broke Nate Britt's ankles with this absurd&nbsp;move</a></h3>
<div class="description"><p><p>Maryland guard Melo Trimble had a slow start against North Carolina but has rebounded well and currently has 11 assists and 15 points midway through the 2nd half. The best assist came when Trimble was guarded by UNC's Nate Britt and used a ridiculous move to drive to the rim that left Britt on his butt. Trimble then did a pass behind a UNC defender to find a wide open Damonte Dodd for an easy dunk.</p></p></div>
https://www.testudotimes.com/2015/12/1/9833618/maryland-guard-melo-trimble-just-broke-nate-britts-ankles-with-thisDave Tucker2015-12-01T22:27:01-05:002015-12-01T22:27:01-05:00Watch Maryland F Damonte Dodd's furious rejection of UNC's Nate Britt<iframe src="https://vine.co/v/iWOIKEWTaM6/embed/simple" width="600" height="600"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>A Jared Nickens turnover set up North Carolina to extend its first-half lead against Maryland on Tuesday night. Damonte Dodd had other ideas.</p></p></div>
https://www.testudotimes.com/2015/12/1/9833502/watch-maryland-f-damonte-dodds-furious-rejection-of-uncs-nate-brittAlex Kirshner