Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan attempts to drive through the paint during the Terps’ 88-80 win over the Eagles at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Dec. 12, 2013.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Things were slipping away from the Terrapins men’s basketball team. After coughing up a 12-point lead in last night’s ACC opener at Boston College, the Terps trailed by four points with seven minutes to play as they stared down their third straight loss.
But directly after Eagles guard Olivier Hanlan nailed the jumper that gave Boston College a 64-60 lead, Dez Wells took control of the ball at the top of the key. And over the next seven minutes, the guard helped his team reclaim a crucial contest.
Wells poured in 18 points over the final 6:56 of play, willing the Terps to an 88-80 road victory that halted a two-game losing skid. Each time the Eagles would make a key play late, Wells seemed to drive into the lane on the next possession, square his body to the rim and knock home a short pull-up jumper.
The junior finished with a career-high 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field.
“Dez Wells kind of put us on his back,” coach Mark Turgeon said.
Wells, though, disagreed. He said it was his teammates who made the difference and he was quick to shower praise on guard Roddy Peters, the freshman who made his third career start at point guard last night.
With Peters earning major minutes, Wells, who has played extensive minutes at point guard while Seth Allen remains sidelined with a broken foot, was able to move off the ball to where he feels more comfortable. Positive results were immediately obvious, as the Terps offense looked fluid early in the game with Peters controlling the tempo.
The Terps (6-4, 1-0 ACC) hit five of their first eight 3-pointers in an uncharacteristically hot start to take a 23-11 lead less than 10 minutes in. Peters had a career-high 14 points and dished out three assists in his first ACC game.
“Roddy’s a tough kid,” Wells said. “He’s a competitor. He’s never nervous before a game. He might have jitters before a game, but he’s a competitor. He loves playing basketball.”
The Terps’ fast start was short-lived, though. The defense began to struggle the way it did in the two losses leading up to the conference opener. Boston College forward Ryan Anderson easily split the defense a couple times in the half to help keep the Eagles (3-7, 0-1) close.
In the second half, Hanlan got going — the Eagles’ leading scorer had 21 second-half points and 26 overall — while the Terps offense cooled off. With 10:20 remaining in the game, Boston College took its first lead.
But after the Eagles built the lead up to four points, Wells got to the line to trim the lead to two. Then, he got to the rim on the next possession and finished a layup while being fouled. He hit the ensuing free throw to give the Terps the lead back.
That was just a sign of things to come.
“Towards the end of the game, he was just unstoppable,” forward Jake Layman said. “He was hitting some crazy shots, and he was feeling it. It was good to see.”
Hanlan helped Boston College regain the lead with around five minutes left at 68-67 with a couple of free throws. But Wells took the ball down the court, got into the lane once again and hit his patented mini pull-up as he got fouled. That three-point play put the Terps up 70-68, and they wouldn’t trail again.
At the under-four minute media timeout, Turgeon mapped out a plan for his team to maintain its four-point lead.
“‘OK, let’s use clock,’” Turgeon told his team, “‘and let Dez do his deal.’”
Wells’ “deal” was getting into the lane to jump-stop and score, which he did several more times. When he finally missed one of his pull-ups with 1:27 to play, forward Jonathan Graham was there to tip in his miss and give the Terps a comfortable six-point lead that proved insurmountable.
“How about Jon Graham’s tip-in?” Wells asked after the game. “That was the play of the game for me.”
Wells was quick to point to his teammates’ contributions, but his 18-point outburst in the final seven minutes was vital, according to Layman and Turgeon.
Turgeon particularly seemed in awe of his junior guard, especially considering that when Wells first elevated his performance, the Terps appeared to be headed for another loss.
Instead, the Terps bounced and hopped off the court triumphantly, and Wells had a toothy smile while on his way to the locker room.
“Dez really cares,” Turgeon said. “What we’ve been going through has been really hard, and so for him to have a night like this, I’m just really happy for him.”
