COLLEGE PARK — The target on the Maryland's men's basketball team got bigger Monday.
The Terps, who have been ranked in the Top 25 since early December and flirted with reaching the top 10 in mid-January, were ranked No. 10 in the latest Associated Press poll.
It marks the first time in the top 10 for Maryland (24-5 overall, 12-4 in the Big Ten) since the 2002-03 season, a year after the Terps won their only national championship in program history and reached the Final Four for the second straight year.
With the women's team ranked No. 4, Maryland is the only school in the country to have both its basketball teams in the top 10.
Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said before practice Monday that he wasn't sure how he would handle the ranking with his team. Turgeon has said during the season that the Terps have struggled at times with being ranked.
"If I say we struggled with it, teams get fired up to play us is really what happened," Turgeon said. "It's just a number. The guys should be proud of it. It is March. To be ranked this high this late in the year means that you have done a few things right.
"It should give us even more confidence down the stretch. I'd like to think we've gotten used to people being excited to play us. Hopefully we'll be just as excited to play as our opponent."
Senior guard Dez Wells said the Terps shouldn't be distracted by the high ranking, something that might have happened earlier in the season. Ranked No. 11 going into a Jan. 7 game at Illinois, Maryland led at halftime and then lost focus in the second half.
"You just keep the same approach that you had when you weren't ranked at all," Wells said. "That's helped us mentally as far as our focus and our determination each and every game. You always want to work like you're poor, but you want to see the benefits of your hard work."
Speaking of being poor, Rutgers (10-19, 2-14), like Maryland a first-year member of the Big Ten, has lost 12 straight games since beating then-No. 4 Wisconsin, 67-62, Jan. 11 in Piscataway, N.J.
The Badgers played that game without All-American center Frank Kaminsky and lost starting point guard Traevon Jackson with an injury in the first half. Jackson has yet to return.
Asked if he and his teammates somehow have to ignore the struggles of the last-place Scarlet Knights, Wells said: "I haven't paid attention. I'm just worried about our team. Whatever we have to do to get the win, that's all I really care about and what I'm going to focus on."
The Terps, currently second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin, finish out the regular season at Nebraska (13-15, 5-11) on Sunday before heading to the conference tournament in Chicago next week. The Cornhuskers are currently tied for 11th in the conference and have lost six straight.
"Two road games and two senior nights," Turgeon said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge. I thought we played well at Penn State, our last road game. I expect the same.
"For us to continue to grow as a team and a program, and get ourselves ready for postseason, we need to perform well out there on the road."
NOTE: Maryland's Melo Trimble was named co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against Wisconsin and Michigan. Trimble, who received the honor for the third time this season, averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in the week.
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