PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Forwards Ivan Bender and Joshua Tomaic flashed smiles like giddy children for about 15 seconds on the Maryland men’s basketball team’s bench.
With just over 10 minutes remaining in the Terps’ game against Rutgers on Tuesday night, Damonte Dodd intercepted a pass at the top of the key and dribbled down the court before drawing a foul at the rim. The 6-foot-11, 250-pound center’s ball handling skills caused the bench’s reaction, and guard Kevin Huerter even smiled when approaching Dodd after the foul.
While Dodd played just six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, coach Mark Turgeon said the team’s lone senior “changed the game” in the second frame. He notched nine points, six rebounds and two blocks in the final frame to help the Terps outscore the Scarlet Knights, 47-31, in the period in their eventual 79-59 victory at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
“I’m surprised he didn’t do a euro-step on the steal,” guard Melo Trimble said. “We were able to get Damonte going. He started the second half off the right way. He was able to play his game on the defensive end and really help us get the lead up.”
Dodd has struggled to stay out of foul trouble this season, playing the fewest minutes per game of Maryland’s starters (19.2) entering Tuesday while leading the team in fouls (76) and foul outs (four). When he’s on the court, Dodd is one of the Terps’ strongest defensive anchors. He leads the team with 48 blocks.
After center Michal Cekovsky suffered a season-ending ankle fracture against Wisconsin on Feb. 19, Turgeon said he’d like Dodd to play at least 25 minutes per outing. But Dodd had played an average of 19 minutes in back-to-back home losses due to foul trouble.
His problems continued in the first half against the Scarlet Knights. The Centreville native picked up his second foul with about seven-and-a-half minutes remaining on a moving screen, a common way Dodd has gathered fouls this season.
But with Maryland leading, 32-28, at halftime, Dodd scored 37 seconds out of intermission. At the 17:38 mark, he blocked guard Mike Williams. And on the next possession, Dodd grabbed an offensive rebound off Trimble’s miss and converted a layup to put Maryland up 12.
About two minutes later, Dodd’s rebound off Trimble’s miss yielded a dunk.
“Damonte’s energy really got us going,” Turgeon said. “On the defensive end and rebounding, he ran the floor hard. It opened things up.”
Dodd didn’t even notice his teammates laughing as he made that steal about halfway through the second half and steamrolled down the floor. He stayed focused, and about a minute later posted another block.
“I just tried to focus on staying out of foul trouble,” Dodd said, “and just coming out and trying to help my team in anyway possible.”
Dodd scrapped up Trimble’s miss once again with about eight minutes remaining. He missed his putback layup but grabbed his own rebound and finished a shot over two defenders.
As the final minutes ticked down, Dodd watched from the bench, though not because he had fouled out.
With the game in hand, Turgeon was resting his starters before the Terps host Michigan State in regular-season finale Saturday.
“He started running the floor really well today, so it opened up a lot of things for guards, like threes in the corners,” forward L.G. Gill said. “When he’s rebounding like he is and running the floor like that, it opens up so much for our team.”
