COLLEGE PARK — Jake Layman's recent two-game surge in rebounding is modest compared to what others have done at Maryland in the past, or even in relation to those he will soon face in the Big Ten.
Still, getting double-digit rebounds to go along with double-digit scoring is part of Layman's overall improvement this season. The 6-foot-9 junior forward had a career-high 11 rebounds against Oklahoma State a week ago, then had 12 in Saturday's win against Oakland. He averaged 18 points in the two games.
The move to power forward, which resulted in large part to senior Evan Smotrycz breaking his foot in the preseason, has allowed Layman to use his quickness and athleticism to beat opponents for rebounds -- particularly on the defensive boards.
"It's great to see," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said after his team's 72-56 win over Oakland. "Jake just goes up and gets them above the rim. His timing's been really good. We needed every one of them."
In his first two seasons at Maryland, playing almost exclusively on the wing, Layman had 10 or more rebounds once, in a home win against Notre Dame last season. He had nine only once as well, in an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament win over Duke as a freshman. He had a total of 18 points in the two games.
This season, he started with a nine-rebound performance against Wagner in the season opener (to go along with 16 points and six assists) and also against VMI (to go along with 19 points). Layman, who averaged 3.2 rebounds as a freshman and five rebounds as a sophomore, is currently averaging a team-high 6.2 rebounds.
Layman said Saturday that he is "just trying to be more aggressive on the boards, I think guarding a 4 [power forward] helps me get inside more to get those rebounds, too."
The Terps will be tested on the boards in Tuesday's opener against Michigan State, particularly if senior forward Branden Dawson has recovered sufficiently from the nondisplaced fracture of his left wrist that has kept him out of the last two games.
Dawson leads the Big Ten in rebounding (8.5 per game) and the Spartans are ranked second behind only Iowa.
"If there is one thing that we don't do great, it's rebounding, and Jake's been our best rebounder," Turgeon said. "I think Dez [Wells] is going to help us as time goes on.
"I think Evan's going to help us as time goes, and I thought it was Checko's [freshman center Michal Cekovsky] best game in a while. He was pretty active out there. We've got some good size, we've just got to rebound better."