Before the season began, Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon marveled at the number of shooters his team possessed and how well -- and willing -- his players seemed to be at finding the open man during practice.
Despite his team being undefeated after four games going into a meeting with Stony Brook at Xfinity Center on Tuesday, Turgeon acknowledged on a teleconference Monday that the Terps have yet to find their rhythm or range offensively.
Needing second-half comebacks in each of their three victories over Division I competition -- including Sunday's 71-66 win over Towson -- Maryland has won on the strength of its defense and free-throw shooting, as well as the other teams' mistakes.
"We are who we are right now. We're trying to figure it out. At times, our defense has been pretty good. We didn't rebound well yesterday," said Turgeon, whose team was outrebounded 46-33. "We've got to get a little more efficient offensively.
"We've got to figure out how to play. I've got to coach them a little bit better. Our offense will come. But I'm proud of what the guys have been able to do, to come back and win these games."
Eventually, Turgeon knows that the Terps will have to start hitting some outside shots if they want to keep winning.
Freshman Justin Jackson (21 points) was the only one doing it with any consistency Sunday, making eight of 13 shots, including five of seven 3-pointers. The 6-foot-7 forward hit three 3-pointers in the second half to help the Maryland overcome a 13-point deficit.
Junior guard Melo Trimble, who got to the line and knocked down 16 of 17 free throws against the Tigers, shot 4-of-15 from the field. He did have a big 3-pointer during Maryland's comeback.
Freshman guard Kevin Huerter, who has been expending so much energy as the team's best perimeter defender, went without a 3-pointer for the first time this season, finishing 0-for-4. He hit a one-footed, fadeaway mid-range shot during the comeback.
For the season, the Terps are shooting less than 42 percent from the field and below 29 percent on 3-pointers.
"Shooting comes and goes," Turgeon said. "I think the key is to continue to try and take better shots, and don't settle for the first open 3. We've got to establish a little more of an inside game, which I think will help our perimeter game."
Turgeon said much of Maryland's struggles offensively are from having so many new players learning the system. Three freshmen are starting and graduate transfer forward L.G. Gill is playing significant minutes off the bench.
The other obvious issue is that after thinking he had 10 interchangeable and equally reliable players, Turgeon has only had two reliable scorers thus far, Trimble and Jackson.
While Huerter and fellow freshman Anthony Cowan have done other things to help the Terps, other more experienced players have not.
Junior wing Jared Nickens, who played well as a freshman, has yet to emerge from a shooting slump that started last season. He is obviously pressing and has now missed 21 of 24 shots, including 14 of 17 3-pointers.
Redshirt sophomore guard Dion Wiley, who missed Sunday's game with a stomach virus, still looks like he is struggling after knee surgery last season, missing 10 of 12 shots, including all five of his 3-pointers.
In the frontcourt, Gill has played well in spots but is adjusting from playing more as a perimeter shooter. Redshirt sophomore Ivan Bender has played hard, despite a fractured wrist. Junior center Michal Cekovsky has yet to play because of a foot injury.
"We got to get have more depth than we had yesterday. I think we only scored two points off the bench," Turgeon said. "We got to create that. That's my job to do that, to get more guys playing better, get guys healthy. I just think so much is going to happen over the next month.
As Maryland's clear leader, Trimble knows it's part of his job to bail out his teammates when others are not shooting well.
"It's my team, so my teammates, they expect me to do those things," Trimble said Sunday.
Sun reporter Jonas Shaffer contributed to this story.