On paper, Maryland's two biggest wins this season have come against Notre Dame and Miami.
The 78-71 win over the Irish at Verizon Center in the BB&T Classic gave the fans hope for this season, but it came against a tired team on the back end of a West Coast trip trying to figure out how to play the rest of the season without its leading scorer.
The 75-70- win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday night at Comcast Center came against a team that had won six of its past eight games and had beaten Duke in Durham, N.C., two weeks ago.
The team the Terps were facing, and the way they came back by scoring 10 straight points in a game-closing 14-4 run, was the reason their win over Miami was the first signature win of the Mark Turgeon era.
Here are some thoughts about how things played out:
If the win over the Irish showed Terrell Stoglin's talents as a big-time scorer, the win over Miami showed that the sophomore point guard is buying into Turgeon's season-long struggle to turn his best player into a team player.
It showed early, when Stoglin dished to James Padgett on the game's first possession for a dunk, and it showed late, when he faked a shot and passed to a wide-open Nick Faust for a layup.
Stoglin said after the game that he has had to learn how to "trust" his teammates, and laughed when it was suggested that some of his selfish play this season stems from the fact that he thinks he has a better chance to hit a 20-footer than some of his teammates do in making a 2-footer. The way the Terps have struggled finishing around the basket this season, I would feel that way, too.
But Turgeon saw progress against the Hurricanes.
"We made some changes, and Terrell yesterday [at practice] bought in early," Turgeon said. "Almost four minutes without a shot. Took one bad shot, and I said, 'That's not bad. He almost lasted four minutes, guys.' He forced a couple, but we got him some really good looks, too. He's tired. He had to carry us against Radford, he had to carry us against Mount St. Mary's. I've got to decide how much I'm going to practice him."
What also was apparent from the Notre Dame game to the Miami game is how much Faust has grown up.
The freshman from Baltimore looked scared against the Irish in December, and a bit clueless about what constituted a good shot. Though he didn't score as much against the Hurricanes -- only eight points -- as he did in the three games since taking over for an injured Pe'Shon Howard at the point, Faust had two big steals to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
But the biggest leap Faust has made this season is believing he can be a defensive stopper. He did a great job on Durand Scott on Tuesday night, and his strip of Scott in the final minute led to the Miami guard picking up his fifth foul. Turgeon said after the game that Faust "can guard anybody." Even Faust is a bit shocked at how improved he is on defense.
Asked how much he thought about defense while in high school, Faust laughed.
"Not much," he said. "I was scoring."
There were other things that should bode well for the future. As I've stated before, I can see Padgett playing the same role next season as a senior as Sean Mosley has done this year, when Alex Len starts gaining some strength and consistency, and Shaquille Cleare arrives with his 6-foot-11, 270-pound frame and NBA-long arms.
Padgett probably won the Miami game for the Terps both early and late. Len had some terrific moments in the second half.
If the Notre Dame gave Maryland fans something to grasp onto after a string of close wins over low major teams, the win over Miami renewed the confidence of Turgeon's players for a while and certainly gave Turgeon his first memorable win in College Park.