COLLEGE PARK, Md. _ Suddenly, the ball started moving. Suddenly, the shots started falling. Suddenly, Tuesday's game went from being a potential down-to-the-wire nailbiter against the Big Ten's last-place team to an easy victory for its first-place team.
After Rutgers cut Maryland's nine-point lead to three early in the second half, the Terps moved the ball, found the open man and distanced themselves from the Scarlet Knights. A 16-2 run helped Maryland break open the game en route to a 67-55 victory.
Junior guard Melo Trimble, whose status for the game was uncertain after he sat out practice Monday with an illness, led Maryland (18-2, 6-1) with 17 points. Freshman wing Kevin Huerter finished with 11 points, with eight rebounds and six assists.
Sophomore guard Corey Sanders led Rutgers (12-9, 1-7) with 15 points on 5-of-19 shooting. He had only two points in the second half.
The victory, the fifth straight for the No. 22 Terps after collapsing against Nebraska on New Year's Day, pushed Maryland to its best start since the 1998-99 season, when the Terps began the season 19-2. Last year's team started 17-2.
The Scarlet Knights cut what had been a 17-point lead for the Terps to nine, 60-51, with a little over five minutes left in the game. After two straight turnovers, and then two missed shots on the next possession, senior center Damonte Dodd settled the Terps _ and the nervous crowd _ with a pair of free throws.
The crowd seemed nervous again when Rutgers center C.J. Gettys scored on a follow and was fouled with a little over two minutes left. Gettys' basket cut the deficit to nine, but he missed the free throw. He was then called for intentionally fouling Trimble, who made both free throws with 2:13 remaining.
Huerter hit back to back 3-pointers during the run, and helped orchestrate 3-pointers by Trimble and junior guard Jaylen Brantley with his passing. In that stretch, the Terps scored on eight of 11 possessions, hitting eight of 10 shots. They also silenced Sanders.
Sanders, who scored 13 points in the first half, didn't score in the second half until nearly nine minutes passed.
Maryland's offense, which looked sharp coming out against Iowa on Thursday, was stagnant and sloppy for stretches in the first half. After taking an early 18-11 lead, the Terps watched the Scarlet Knights go on a 9-1 run. Turgeon called timeout, but there wasn't an immediate response.
Trailing 25-22 after a 3-pointer by Sanders, Trimble scored on a floater and redshirt sophomore forward Ivan Bender hit both ends of a one-and-one to put the Terps back ahead. After a pair of free throws by redshirt junior guard Nigel Johnson gave Rutgers a 27-26 lead, Maryland answered with its best stretch of the half.
First Huerter scored on a leaning drive in the lane. Then, after Sanders missed, Huerter whipped a pass in the corner to Trimble, who buried a 3-pointer. After Rutgers guard Mike Williams scored as he was fouled _ he missed the free throw _ the Terps finished the half with a corner 3-pointer by L.G. Gill.
The 3-pointer by the graduate transfer forward, only his second in three attempts this season, gave Maryland a 34-29 lead at halftime. The Terps shot 11-of-28 from the field, including 4-of-10 on 3-pointers.
Sanders, coming off a 25-point performance that included the game-winning shot Saturday against Nebraska to give the Scarlet Knights their first Big Ten win under new coach Steve Pikiell, finished the half with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Turgeon began covering him with Huerter rather than Cowan or Brantley.
Trimble, who missed practice Monday because of an illness, hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, and finished the half with nine points and three assists. Bender added six points and three rebounds off the bench.
The Terps opened the second half quickly, with freshman forward Justin Jackson scoring easily inside on Maryland's first possession. Jackson then made a steal that led to a hoop by Huerter to push Maryland's lead to nine. Rutgers called timeout 47 seconds into the half.
