COLLEGE PARK — After his team's 16-point loss at Iowa on Sunday, Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon refused to put the blame for a lackluster performance on junior forward Jake Layman and senior guard Dez Wells. Layman tied a season-low with four points while Wells committed six turnovers.
"Obviously we need everybody on our team to play well to be successful," Turgeon said in Iowa City.
The 19th-ranked Terps proved their coach correct in Wednesday's 68-66 victory over Indiana at Xfinity Center.
Not only did Wells (18 points), Layman (14 points and a team-high seven rebounds) and freshman point guard Melo Trimble (18 points, five rebounds) make a majority of the big plays down the stretch. Maryland's role players also did their part in helping the Terps (20-5) get their biggest win in nearly a month.
Starting center Damonte Dodd wasn't a factor offensively, failing to score for the third time in the past six games, but the 6-foot-11 sophomore tied a career-high with four blocked shots and helped the Terps keep the Hoosiers from driving untouched as they did in a 19-point win over the Terps last month.
Senior guard Richaud Pack forced Indiana guard James Blackmon Jr. into a five-point game on 2 of 14 shooting after the talented freshman had gone for 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting Jan. 22 in Bloomington. Pack also had six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Freshman wing Jared Nickens, one of the few Terps who played well at Indiana with four 3-pointer, hit both of his shots in Wednesday's second half – crucial 3-pointers in a tight game. That came after he missed his last seven 3-pointers over three games, including the two he tried in the first half Wednesday.
Senior forward Jon Graham, who had a career-high 16 points in last week's win over Penn State, had just one basket, but he made his own contribution with six rebounds in 15 minutes and helped give the Terps some much needed toughness, which they lacked Sunday.
Senior forward Evan Smotrycz also hit a couple 3-pointer to go along with four rebounds, and he played some good defense on Indiana forward Collin Hartman, who scored just five points after scoring 15 in the first game against Maryland. Smotrycz played a season-high 25 minutes.
"We had a lot of guys play well, and they had to for us to win it," Turgeon said.
Turgeon felt good for all of his role players, though he might have been happiest for Smotrycz given his struggles this season after breaking his foot in the preseason and then losing confidence in his shot.
"He looked like Evan Smotrycz. He hadn't looked like Evan at all this year," Turgeon said. "It was good to see. He was really happy in the locker room after the game. Happy for him. It's been a struggle, been a tough year. I thought defensively he was terrific, rebounded. He's such a smart player, he gets guys all in the right spots. Good for Evan."
Wells said he tried to give his teammates a boost before the game, reminding them of the contributions they made earlier in the season before the stakes were raised with Maryland's national ranking.
"That's how we need you guys to play like you did at the beginning of the season when everything was in our favor," Wells said. "Those guys stepped up and they made big plays for us tonight. The young guys did what they needed to do, veteran leaders stepped up as well. Evan hit big shots and made big plays for us down the stretch and made big free throws for us."
Indiana coach Tom Crean said he doesn't consider anyone in a Maryland uniform a role player.
"I don't look at guys at this level as role players, everybody has a role," Crean said. "I learned a long time ago that you can't move on to one role until the master the one you're in. The bottom line is, if Maryland puts you on the floor, you can play. Those guys make a lot of things happen. I would like to think that if I bring guys in they're going to make things happen too."