COLLEGE PARK — Many will remember the Maryland men's basketball team beating Oklahoma State, 71-70, Saturday night at Xfinity Center by erasing a 12-point deficit in the last 12 minutes, and that junior guard Melo Trimble hit two crucial free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining.

Senior center Damonte Dodd and junior guard Jaylen Brantley will hardly be mentioned when discussing the fifth second-half comeback of the season for the Terps.

Without them, though, Maryland (8-1) likely would have lost its second straight game, perhaps by another big margin, as the Terps did against Pittsburgh on Tuesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Against Oklahoma State, Dodd and Brantley each scored 12 points — one fewer than Trimble — while Dodd added eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

In fact, Trimble was on the bench, with Dodd and Brantley on the court with three freshmen — point guard Anthony Cowan (11 points, five rebounds), wing Kevin Huerter and forward Justin Jackson — when the Terps started a 13-0 run that erased a 60-48 deficit.

During the run, Dodd scored on a dunk to cut the deficit to 60-52; Brantley then scored on a strong drive after Oklahoma State star Jawun Evans was forced into a turnover. Dodd later scored on a three-point play to bring the Terps to within 60-58 on a pass from Trimble.

The freshmen had been contributing all season. Brantley and Dodd have been more up-and-down.

“I'm really proud of Jaylen Brantley, he was terrific, and Damonte Dodd's defense in the second half was great,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “Jaylen played tonight like he practices every day. He practices hard, he believes, he never stops talking. He's a winner; he made winning plays.”

On a night when Trimble again struggled with his shooting — he finished 4-for-12 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3-point range — Brantley was “my option,” Turgeon said.

“And he's not afraid. His Amateur Athletic Union team won a national championship and they never took him out of the game, so he's a winner. We had no chance without him tonight.”

Dodd was also the only factor down the stretch at center for the Terps, who were without redshirt sophomore Ivan Bender because of a bone bruise in his left leg. Junior Michal Cekovsky contributed little after picking up two fouls in 34 seconds shortly after replacing Dodd in the first half.

Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood said after the game that he was not surprised by what Dodd did against the Cowboys.

“I told our [assistant] coaches, ‘He's one of my favorite players on their team,' because he impacts the game,” Underwood said. “However number of minutes he's been playing, he impacts the game, whether it's through a defensive rebound or his sheer size at the rim. His impact is felt.”

Underwood smiled as he began to think about what Brantley had done.

“Brantley? That one was probably a little curveball that I swung and missed on,” Underwood said. “Give him credit. You get consumed with some of the other guys and he did what a good player should do: step up and given the opportunity. Took the most of it.”

Trimble said Brantley's performance should be a “confidence booster” for a player who has struggled since coming to Maryland last season after spending a year in junior college.

“That's for anybody to have a game like that in this situation,” Trimble said. “He played a lot today [22 minutes]. He got to the basket, hit shots, his defense was outstanding, as well. He made — I think — a game-winning play, when he dove on the ball to get a jump ball in our possession. He's going to continue to get better, just like any other player.”

don.markus@baltsun.com

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