Quick Report: No. 4 Maryland 70, Penn State 64

Marley Paul (@MarleyPaul22)
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For a little more than 30 minutes, Penn State looked poised for its first road win against a top 10 team since beating Michigan State in February 2009. The Nittany Lions traveled to College Park, Maryland on Wednesday to face No. 4 Maryland in the Big Ten opener and controlled the momentum for the majority of the game.

In the end, however, the defense faltered down the stretch and the baskets did not drop in a timely manner, allowing the Terrapins to escape with a 70-64 win behind clutch plays from Melo Trimble and Diamond Stone.

At first...
Both teams weren't shy to launch from deep. After Maryland nailed the first 3-pointer, Shep Garner answered with one of his own. An ensuing 3-point make from Maryland set the stage for a shootout.

Two minutes in, Maryland led 6-5, before both teams hit a rough patch in shooting. The Nittany Lions were able to put together a string some buckets together with good play from Garner, who penetrated and shot at will to create chances for his teammates, including a nice dump off pass to Jordan Dickerson, who slammed a dunk for an 11-7 lead, seven minutes into the contest.

At the 7:43 mark, Maryland had missed 10 consecutive shots after starting 3-of-6 from the field as Penn State led 16-13. The Nittany Lions were able to control the first half, taking a 26-17 lead into the halftime locker room.

Turning point...
Midway through the second half, Penn State was still in good shape, clinging to a 49-42 lead, that wouldn’t last much longer. The Terrapins slowly but surely kept themselves within striking distance before Trimble, who struggled in the first half, found his stroke and anchored a 15-2 run with two 3-pointers to tie the game at 60 with just under four minutes left in the game. Maryland jumped out to a 64-62 lead moments later, and by then, the momentum was all theirs as the Terrapins closed out the game.

Shining stars...
Maryland's five-star freshman center, Stone, was no longer a starter entering the game, coming off the bench in favor of Jake Layman. That may not last much longer as the 6-foot-11, 255-pound big man punished the Nittany Lions in the paint, totaling a career-high 39 points on 10 of 15 shooting, while adding 12 rebounds.

Stone caused matchup issues for the Penn State all night, dominating the paint, running the lane on fast breaks and earning trips to the charity stripe, where he attempted 25 free throws, nailing 19 of them.

Taylor put Penn State on his back, almost willing the team to the upset. He played all 40 minutes for Pat Chambers, finishing with 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting plus 10 rebounds. Despite only two assists in the box score, Taylor created several scoring opportunities for his teammates and was the catalyst for the Nittany Lions’ impressive showing.

Noteworthy number...
26.
That’s how many personal fouls Penn State committed, compared to Maryland’s 17. That further exacerbated in the contrast in free throw attempts: Maryland took 38, Penn State just 16. The Nittany Lions’ inability to keep the Terrapins off the line likely doomed them the most in this contest as Maryland shot just 33 percent from the floor, while Penn State shot 43 percent and led for most of the game.

Up next:
Penn State (9-5): @ Michigan, Noon, Jan 2.
Maryland (12-1): @ Northwestern, 8 p.m., Jan. 2.