Maryland men’s basketball guard Melo Trimble averaged 24.5 points per game at the Barclays Center Classic this weekend, leading his team to the title over Kansas State on Saturday night, and conference recognized his efforts by naming the junior as the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
He split the honors with Purdue forward Caleb Swanigan. This marks the third weekly award of Trimble’s career.
The Upper Marlboro native’s week started with a 21-point performance against Stony Brook on Nov. 22 and ended with him earning Most Valuable Player honors at the holiday tournament in Brooklyn.
In the Terps’ 88-82 overtime win over Richmond on Friday, Trimble tied his career high with 31 points. He went 10-for-20, including five 3-pointers, and made six free throws. Behind Trimble, Maryland overcame a 12-point halftime deficit and held off the Spiders after regulation.
“It begins and ends with Trimble,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “If you can’t guard him or slow him down, you’re not going to have a very good chance.”
Maryland then needed all of Trimble’s 18 points against Kansas State the next night. With 25 seconds to play, the Wildcats held a three-point lead.
That’s when Trimble took over, first converting a layup out of a timeout. After Kansas State missed the front end of a one-and-one, the soft-spoken slasher drove the length of the court and finished with his left hand to put the Terps ahead with 6.6 seconds to go.
“We knew it was coming. We talked about it in the huddle,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “He’s good at it. He gets his body into you, draws fouls, makes plays.”
Trimble, who has led the Terps’ in scoring the past two seasons, is averaging a team-high 21.1 points per game. He’s one of the main reasons Maryland (7-0) has prevailed in close games early in the season.
Tuesday, the Terps return to the court against Pittsburgh (5-1) as a part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
