This is an exhilarating time for Maryland men’s basketball.

At 17-5 overall and 7-4 in the Big Ten, the Terps are off to their best start in the Kevin Willard era and most successful since the 2019-20 season under Mark Turgeon.

On Monday, Maryland was ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the first time since Feb. 27, 2023, and the position is the program’s highest since Dec. 11, 2022, when it was No. 13 in the country. And if the season ended today, the team would earn the No. 4 seed and a coveted double-bye to the quarterfinals in the Big Ten Tournament.

But all of those accolades mean little to senior power forward Julian Reese.

“Try not to focus on that and just trying to play our best brand of basketball is important,” the Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate said minutes after Maryland’s 76-68 upset of then-No. 17 Wisconsin that propelled the team into the rankings. “Just staying locked in and not looking at things like that.”

Here are some factors that have contributed to the Terps’ resurgence this winter:

It’s the scoring

The most obvious difference this year is a much-improved offense that is averaging 83 points per game, which is tied for fourth in the Big Ten and 14 points more than last season’s per-game output of 69.

Maryland has converted 48.4% of its shots and 37.2% of its 3-point attempts, which are both significant upgrades from last winter’s numbers of 41.3% and 28.9%, respectively. A related statistic involves assists where the team has averaged 15.4 assists compared with 10.9 in 2023-24.

All five starters are averaging a minimum of 11.5 points and shooting 44.5% or better. With 664 field goals and 184 3-pointers already, the offense is on pace to finish the regular season with 935 field goals and 259 3-pointers — the latter of which would rank third in school history.

“Obviously, we shoot the ball so much better,” Willard said. “When you make shots — and not only open shots but tough shots — it takes a lot of pressure off of everything. So that’s the biggest difference.”

After ranking 290th nationally in scoring a year ago, the Terps rank 19th this winter. Former Michigan coach and Big Ten Network analyst John Beilein said he appreciates the players’ discretion regarding their range.

“It takes a bit to know what is your shot and when should I shoot it,” he said. “They all seem to be very educated 3-point shooters right now. And the guys who aren’t great shooters are saying, ‘No, I’m just going to keep the ball moving.’ The ones who are shooting are hunting good ones.”

The shopping was a success

Mining the transfer portal can be tricky. Adding talented players can ramp up the excitement level, but how they adapt to new coaching, teammates and environments is a wild card.

That hasn’t been the case for Maryland. Junior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.6 points and 4.7 assists), sophomore shooting guard Rodney Rice (12.7 points) and graduate student small forward Selton Miguel (11.5 points) have become fixtures in the starting lineup, and junior power Tafara Gapare (4.7 points) and graduate student Jayhlon Young (2.8 points) are among the first players off the bench.

Willard said he and his coaching staff had certain types of players they sought when they went to the portal.

“There’s a lot of pressure when you go into the portal, and we really learned as a staff the difference between Year 2 and Year 3 in what we were looking for and how we wanted to go about doing things,” he said. “I think we have a really good formula when we go into the portal of what we’re looking for, and I think that formula really helped us with the guys we brought in.”

At the top of that shopping list were players who could emerge as sources for points unlike last winter when the burden seemed to fall heavily on point guard Jahmir Young.

“I think he really wanted to make sure that he got guys that could score because last year, it was Jahmir and four other guys, and that was about it,” longtime Terps broadcaster Johnny Holliday said. “That’s nothing against the four other guys, but he carried the load all the time. Now one guy doesn’t have to carry the load.”

Defense is creating offense

Defense has been Maryland’s trademark under Willard. Using that defense to fuel the offense has become key.

This season, the Terps rank third in the Big Ten in forced turnovers per game at 14.9 and 35th nationally. They also rank third in the conference in steals per game at 7.9 and are tied for 81st in the country.

In a league that has long prided itself on tough and physical man-to-man defense, Beilein credited Willard with installing a zone defense and a three-quarters-court press to harass opponents.

“They are just disrupting offenses at the right time,” he said. “They’re getting people out of kilter a little bit. They’re changing defenses, and I think they’re willing defenders. They’re guys who are willing to defend because they get it. They get that is their best way to win.”

In addition to making it difficult for opposing teams to score, Maryland has turned turnovers into points. It has averaged 19.4 points off turnovers this season compared with 14.6 a year ago.

Willard attributed the increase in points off turnovers to a more productive offense that allows the Terps to get into their press and defense and reduces the need to play transition defense.

“We’re just able to set our defense up,” he said. “When you’re able to set your defense up and you’re able to dictate pace and you’re able to dictate tempo, you just become a better defensive team and a better steals team because you’re not in scramble mode all the time.”

The schedule might be in Maryland’s favor

After an arduous January during which the Terps went 6-3, they get a respite of sorts.

Over the final nine games of the regular season, they will host five of them and meet only two Big Ten opponents with winning records in the conference. No. 9 Michigan State (18-4, 9-2) must trek to Xfinity Center in College Park on Feb. 26, which should draw a rabid crowd, and Maryland will visit No. 24 Michigan (18-4, 9-2) on March 5.

That might explain why Big Ten Network analyst and former Purdue guard Rapheal Davis made the Terps his choice as one team in the league with the sunniest outlook.

“I look at Maryland’s schedule and I look at that they have left,” Davis, the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2014-15, explained Tuesday during a midday show on the Big Ten Network. “They have Michigan State, but it’s at home. Michigan maybe is their toughest road game, but this Maryland team is clicking offensively. The best trio of guards, the best frontcourt, I love what Kevin Willard has put together in College Park.”

That type of optimism might be refreshing after last winter’s troubles. But Willard isn’t taking time to sit back and feel vindicated.

“As a coach, you’ve got to win every year,” he said. “So it’s not gratifying, it’s my job. If we don’t have success, then there’s going to be someone else here doing it. We’ve got our nose to the grindstone because we’re still grinding it out.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.