COLLEGE PARK — The conversation occurred once Damonte Dodd got back to Maryland's bench.
The Terps' 6-foot-11 sophomore forward had just committed a second turnover in the first three minutes of Maryland's game against Winthrop on Saturday and was pulled from the game by coach Mark Turgeon.
When Dodd got back to the bench, Turgeon yelled and told him: "You have to play better, Damonte."
"And he did," Turgeon said after the game.
Dodd re-entered minutes later and finished the game with a career-high nine points, a career-high 10 rebounds, three blocks, a steal and a career-high two assists in helping Maryland beat Winthrop, 82-62.
Dodd was 2-for-3 from the field, 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and had a strong two-handed putback dunk in the closing minutes of the second half to put an exclamation point on his performance.
"He was the first big to really start playing well, and we rode him," Turgeon said. "I think he probably played 25 of the final 30 minutes. His defense was good. His recognition was good. His awareness was good, and then he got some things going offensively.
"He made free throws, which was great to see. … He did a lot of really good things. He blocked three shots but probably altered about four or five more, so he gave us a great presence at the rim when we did break down. It was his best game of his career so far, all-around game."
Dodd had not played well in the Terps' previous game, a 76-65 loss to Virginia on Wednesday. In that game, he was on the floor for just 10 minutes, finished with as many fouls (two) as rebounds and saw two primary areas he needed to be better while watching film of the game.
"Rebounding and making sure I had a guy every time the ball goes up," Dodd said. "That's the main thing. I saw that on film that I wasn't hitting guys hard enough or I wasn't boxing out at all. So just rebounding. That's what I really looked at on film, and that's what coach [Turgeon] told me also."
Dodd responded with the team- and career-high 10 rebounds Saturday while also contributing offensively and continuing to provide — along with 7-foot freshman Michal Cekovsky — the type of shot-altering presence defensively that Maryland lacked last season.
After playing an average of just 7.5 minutes per game as a freshman last year, Dodd is averaging 4.8 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 16.7 minutes per game this season.
The Centreville native is also shooting 60.9 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the free-throw line after he shot just 36.8 percent from the field and 2 of 16 from the line last year.
"He had a couple turnovers early [on Saturday]," Turgeon said. "But he was so much better with catching and getting fouled and getting to the foul-line, things he couldn't do last year. He would have dropped it, fumbled it, so he's really worked hard at that.
"He has a good jump right hook. We just don't give him many opportunities to do that. So he's coming. Day-by-day with him. … So it was good to see Damonte have a game like that. It's good for his confidence."