Carter, Stone shine as No. 4 Maryland beats Marshall 87-67
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) Maryland center Diamond Stone is finding his scoring touch just in time for his Big Ten debut.
The freshman continued his recent strong stretch Sunday, finishing with 16 points as the fourth-ranked Terrapins pulled away for an 87-67 victory over Marshall.
''He makes it look so easy,'' Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said of Stone, who was 8 of 10 from the field.
Forward Robert Carter added 19 points as Maryland (11-1) shook off 19 turnovers and countered Marshall's perimeter-focused offense with a heavy emphasis on inside play.
''That was our plan,'' Turgeon said. ''I thought we shot too many jump shots early. But we settled down. We went inside.''
After a sluggish start to the season, Stone has scored in double figures in his last five games, including a career-best 16 points three times. And the McDonald's All-America has done it primarily while coming off the bench, he says, for the first time ''since fourth grade.''
He was Turgeon's first sub against Marshall and played a career-high 25 minutes in his final game before Maryland opens the Big Ten season against Penn State on Wednesday.
''I kind of accepted it and I realized that we're a team and it's not just all about me,'' Stone said of his role. ''And if we're winning and I'm coming off the bench, then it's a good win.''
Rasheed Sulaimon added 14 points, while Melo Trimble had 13 and hit three 3-pointers, part of a season-high 13 for the Terrapins.
Stevie Browning was one of four Marshall players to score 11 points. He grabbed seven rebounds for the Thundering Herd (4-9), who made 6 of 31 3-point attempts, missing 12 straight in the second half as the Terrapins pulled away.
''Our bigs have got to shoot better,'' Marshall coach Dan D'Antoni said. ''We can't go conventional, we're not built for that. If we tried to go mano-a-mano with a team like this, they would probably pretty handily take care of us pretty quick.''
Maryland was up by 10 points at halftime and took control with a 25-10 run that stretched across much of the second half.
Trimble got it started with a jumper and a 3-pointer to make it 59-43, and Stone followed with two inside baskets.
Carter added his final points of the game on a thunderous transition dunk off a feed from Trimble, and Jake Layman and Jaylen Brantley each hit two 3-pointers.
Brantley's second, off a pass from Trimble, made it 77-51 with 6:32 to play.
''It's a great win for us,'' Turgeon said. ''If you'd told me we were going to be up 25, 26 against this team, I knew we had to play well to do it.''
TIP-INS
Marshall: The Thundering Herd fell to 5-18 all-time against current Big Ten schools, including 2-3 against Maryland. ... Marshall had not played a team ranked higher than Maryland since facing No. 3 Syracuse in December 2011.
Maryland: The Terrapins improved to 7-0 at Xfinity Center. ... Maryland plays one more nonconference game, at home against Bowie State on Feb. 9. ... Senior guard Trevor Anzmann scored his first career points with a 3-pointer in the game's final minute.
BRANTLEY'S REUNION
Brantley finished with eight points and hit 3 of 4 field goals against his former team, one game after scoring a career-high 14 points against Princeton.
''I think his confidence has come the furthest, and that's really what's important,'' Turgeon said of the sophomore transfer.
`OUT OF GAS'
Marshall hit only 1 of 13 3-point attempts in the second half after missing all 13 of its second-half 3-pointers on Dec. 17 against West Virginia, its other game against a ranked opponent.
''We ran out of gas in the second half,'' D'Antoni said.
UP NEXT
Marshall hosts Western Kentucky next Sunday.
Maryland hosts Penn State on Wednesday.
