STATE COLLEGE, PA. — The process has been slow, often painful and at times perplexing, even to Dez Wells.
More than 2 1/2 months after seeing his senior year derailed by a fractured right wrist, and seven weeks after returning to find freshman point guard Melo Trimble firmly established as Maryland's new star, the 6-foot-5 guard finally seems to be in the best place possible both physically and mentally heading toward March.
The No. 19 Terps won their first road game in more than a month here Saturday, 76-73, over Penn State at Bryce Jordan Center, largely because Wells scored 22 points on seven of 10 shooting, pulled down six rebounds and, possibly most important, pulled Trimble out of a momentary fog with three choice words.
When a reporter asked Trimble what Wells told him after Trimble seemed to hurt himself on a driving scoop layup on which he was fouled to give the Terps a 72-68 lead with 1:22 remaining, a voice could be heard a few feet away. "Suck it up," Wells said with a chuckle.
Trimble, who said he briefly "kind of blacked out" after his head crashed into teammate Evan Smotrycz on the play, had to come out of the game when Maryland coach Mark Turgeon came onto the floor to see how his new star was doing. Senior guard Richaud Pack missed the free throw in Trimble's place.
Recalling what Wells told him, Trimble smiled, too.
"He told me I'll be all right, I'm not hurt or whatever," Trimble said. "I was kind of hurt, [but] when he told me that, I felt better right away."
While Trimble helped seal the victory by scoring the team's last six points -- including four straight at the free-throw line on a night when he was 12 of 12 -- Wells got the Terps in sight of the finish line. Wells, who was mistakenly introduced as "Dez Williams" before the game, had played a big role in Maryland taking a 55-42 lead with 14 minutes left.
It marked the first time since Wells returned in late December that he scored 18 points or more in successive games.
Asked how he felt physically, Wells said, "I feel really good, I feel really close to 100 percent, I can't really give you a number, but I feel I great. You just want to keep getting back, keep working out, keep doing whatever's necessary for our team to keep winning. Whatever it takes."
Said Turgeon: "He was terrific. That's Dez. Getting to the rim is Dez."