another big game this sat at 2:30.
Maryland Terrapins vs. Purdue Boilermakers - Preview - January 10, 2015 - ESPN
Coach Mark Turgeon believes Maryland's first Big Ten defeat might serve as a needed wake-up call.
The No. 11 Terrapins could face another serious challenge Saturday as they try to bounce back against a Purdue team looking for its first 3-0 league home start in four seasons.
Turgeon knew this week's two-game road swing would be difficult but it seemed Maryland (14-2, 2-1) had caught a break when Illinois announced leading scorer Rayvonte Rice would miss some time with a hand injury. However, Illini guard Malcolm Hill stepped up to hit half of his 18 shots and finished with 28 points to help hand the cold-shooting Terrapins a 64-57 loss Wednesday.
With a record that tied the school's best start and riding a seven-game winning streak, Maryland shot worse than 40.0 percent for the second time in three games, finishing at 36.5 despite going 9 of 21 from 3-point range.
"We've been listening to everybody telling us how good we are," Turgeon said. "You don't ever like to lose, but maybe we needed this."
Talented Maryland freshman guard Melo Trimble (16.3 points per game) had a team-high 17 points but dependable seniors Dez Wells (13.9 ppg), Richaud Pack (8.3) and Evan Smotrycz (4.9) combined for 10 on 3-of-21 shooting.
"I love my seniors, but they just didn't have a good night," Turgeon said. "They were pressing."
The Terps could get a boost after announcing 6-foot-9 Ivan Bender was added to the roster this week and will be eligible to play right away. A native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bender averaged 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds for KK Split in the Junior Euroleague.
"We are excited to have Ivan join our program," Turgeon said. "He is a terrific young man who will be a great addition to our team."
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the terps are adding another talented european big man?
terps do very well with foreign talent.
the 7 foot rookie chekovky looks lost and late against good teams. he looked better early on when we played inferior talent. good move by turgeon to get him minutes early in the season for experience then limit his mins against the reg schedule.
need the terps to step up saturday.