College Park, MD (Sports Network) - Dez Wells scored 19 points on 7-of-10
shooting to lead Maryland to a 62-52 come-from-behind victory over Denver in
an NIT second round matchup from the Comcast Center.
Seth Allen added 13 points and Nick Faust had 12 for the Terrapins (24-12),
the second seed in the Region 3 bracket. Maryland will next face the winner of
Saturday's clash between top-seeded Alabama and defending NIT champion
Stanford in the quarterfinals.
Chris Udofia finished with a game-high 24 points for Denver (22-10), which was
coming off its first-ever postseason Division I win in Tuesday's 61-57 triumph
over Ohio in the opening round. Brett Olson netted 10 points in defeat.
Maryland trailed 50-44 with six minutes remaining, but outscored the Pioneers
by an 18-2 margin the rest of the way to prevail.
A 3-point play from Wells with 5:13 to go ignited a 9-0 Terrapins' run, with
Allen converting a layup a minute later that put Maryland in front by a 51-50
count and Wells scoring shortly afterward to extend the margin.
Udofia threw down a dunk on the ensuing possession to bring Denver back within
one, but the Pioneers missed their final five shot attempts as Maryland pulled
away down the stretch.
A huge first half from Udofia helped Denver go into intermission owning a
30-27 edge, with the junior forward pouring in 19 points while making good on
7-of-9 field goal tries that included a 2-of-3 success rate from beyond the
arc.
The Pioneers stayed ahead through much of the second half, with the lead as
high as nine points following a 12-4 burst capped by Olson's trey with 9:15
left to play that made the score 48-39.
GAME NOTES:
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