• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

No. 10 Maryland holds on to beat Rutgers

Mar 4, 2015 - 4:09 AM Piscataway, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Dez Wells had 20 points and 10 rebounds and No. 10 Maryland held on for a 60-50 win over lowly Rutgers on Tuesday.

Wells keyed an 8-0 Maryland run after Rutgers tied the score with around six minutes remaining in the game. His bank shot stopped a Rutgers flurry and his steal and breakaway dunk highlighted the Terrapins burst, which gave them a 53-45 lead.

Rutgers scored the next five points, but Wells came through again with a tough layup despite lots of contact from Scarlet Knights forward Kadeem Jack, giving Maryland a five-point lead with just over a minute to play.

"Another great win for us," said Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. "Obviously Dez Wells put us on his back in the last six, seven minutes of the game."

Jake Layman added 14 points and Melo Trimble had 10 for the Terrapins (25-5, 13-4 Big Ten), who have won six in a row since a loss at Iowa on Feb. 8.

They cracked the Associated Press top-10 this week for the first time since Feb. 3, 2003, when they were ranked eighth.

The Terrapins, likely headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010, are trying to win the Big Ten regular season title in their first season in the conference. They entered play two games behind idle Wisconsin for first place.

Greg Lewis scored 14 points to lead Rutgers (10-20, 2-15), which has dropped 13 games in a row since upsetting then-No. 4 Wisconsin on Jan. 11. The first loss in the streak was a 73-65 defeat at Maryland on Jan. 14.

Jack, one of the seniors honored in Rutgers' last home game of the season, had a career-high 16 rebounds in the loss.

"That's who he is," said Scarlet Knights coach Eddie Jordan. "When he can play at a high motor, continuously give great effort and get to the basket, he's great. I wake up in the middle of the night and say 'Cut Kadeem, cut.' Tonight he did a lot of that. That's what he needs to do for us to try and get a game here and one in the (conference) tournament."

The Scarlet Knights trailed 31-23 at halftime in this one but tied the score down the stretch at the end of a 13-2 run.

Game Notes

The Terrapins lead the all-time series 5-3 ... Maryland ends the regular season at Nebraska on Sunday ... Rutgers visits Michigan for its season finale on Saturday.