Maryland Terrapins win inaugural Big Ten home opener behind a solid game from Damonte Dodd and company.

Maryland Terrapins 70 Minnesota Golden Gophers 58

On the heels of an emotional and hard fought double-overtime win at Michigan State on Tuesday, the Maryland Terrapins did not want to come home and have an emotional letdown against Minnesota.

In their inaugural Big Ten home game, the #12-ranked Maryland Terrapins (14-1, 2-0) had the Xfinity Center rocking in large part due to forward, Damonte Dodd.

Dodd had nine points and a season high 12 rebounds and three blocks which helped the Terps defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-4, 0-2), 70-58.

Maryland is now off to their best start since 1997, which was the last time the Terps began a season 14-1.

Dez Wells looked like he was getting back into the swing of things with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Freshman sensation Melo Trimble missed 10 out of 15 shots from the field but found his way to the free-throw line in the second half where he drained 9-13 from the charity stripe and finished with a team high 20 points and six rebounds.

In the first half, the Terps went on a run early and jumped out to a 32-17 lead. The Golden Gophers were not just going to roll over and made a run of their own to go into halftime only down 36-33.

Minnesota was led by Maurice Walker who scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Carlos Morris pitched in 18 points of his own. Walker and Morris helped Minnesota keep it close but it wasn’t enough to stop the Terrapins from earning their seventh straight win.

Maryland held Rich Pitino’s squad who ranked 14th in the nation in scoring (82 ppt) to only 58 points. The Golden Gophers shot 33.8% from the field and an ice cold 13.6% from behind the 3-point arc.

Free throws once again played a big part for the Terps who went 20-for-28 (71.4%) from the line, compared to Minnesota who only shot 11-for-21 (52.4%).

After the first two games in Big Ten play, Maryland has proven to be a team who can play defense. They held Michigan State to only 48 points in regulation and only allowed Minnesota to score 58 points. Does the phrase, “defense wins championships” ring any bells?

It seems as though Mark Turgeon finally has found guys who are willing to buy into what he is selling in College Park. And yet, he believes this team has a lot more potential.

When asked about the Terrapins’ 14-1 start during his post-game interview, Coach Mark Turgeon responded,

“What matters to me is how we are playing. I do not think we are playing as well as we can play. We are playing well, but we have to get more of a rotation and we need to play more of a complete game while remaining consistent.”

They might be the new guys in the Big Ten, but they are one of the Big Ten’s best teams and could be a top-10 team by the start of next week.

The Terps will get back to work before hitting the road next Wednesday, January 7 when they will take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois at 9pm ET.