PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Nearly five months after Maryland was picked to finish 10th in its inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference, even junior forward Jake Layman admitted he could not have expected things to go any better than they have for the now 10th-ranked Terps.
"How could it not surprise you when everybody leaves and you have a whole new group of guys coming in, you really have no clue how a team's going to be coming into a season," Layman said after Maryland clinched at least second place in the Big Ten with a 60-50 victory over last-place Rutgers Tuesday night.
Layman, the only player who stayed among the four-man freshman class of 2012-13, said he had an inkling when a new group, led by freshman guard Melo Trimble as well as senior transfer Richaud Pack, started working out when the team reconvened in early June.
It wasn't until the season began that Layman said he saw the beginning stages of what could wind up being the biggest turnaround in college basketball this season.
"You see guys working out, their strengths and weaknesses on the court over the summer, but once it comes to game time, that's when you know," said Layman, who added that he is still in touch with some of his old teammates. "From the first game this season, I kind of realized that we had a special group."
While Layman said he "would've taken it" had someone told him at the start of the season that the Terps would finish second, Dez Wells accepted it begrudgingly.
"I thought we'd finish first," Wells said with a smile after scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, his first double double of the season and his sixth as a college player at Maryland and Xavier. "Second, I'll settle for second. I think I'll settle for second."
The Terps have an outside chance of sharing first place with No. 7 Wisconsin if Maryland wins at Nebraska Sunday and the Badgers lose their last two road games, at Minnesota on Thursday and Ohio State on Sunday.
If both teams finish 14-4, the Terps get the top seed in the Big Ten tournament based on beating Wisconsin last week in College Park.
Asked what it says about the Terps to have played so well, Wells said that he and his teammates can't be complacent.
"Anything can happen," he said. "We've got to finish out this regular season with another win on Sunday [at Nebraska]. We're just trying to take it one game at a time."