COLLEGE PARK — When the Maryland men's basketball team began Big Ten play nearly a month ago, there was legitimate worry about whether the Terps would remain in the top half of the league after finishing second in their inaugural season two years ago and tied for third last season.

As a team, Maryland was shooting poorly, particularly on 3-point attempts. The Terps were getting outrebounded, at times on the offensive boards. They were sloppy in their offensive execution, with more turnovers than assists in more than half of their games.

Yet Maryland was 12-1 going into Big Ten play, coming from behind in the second half seven times.

While some of those deficiencies still hinder Mark Turgeon's young team — defensive rebounding and turnovers being at the top of the list — No. 22 Maryland (18-2, 6-1 Big Ten) keeps winning. A 67-55 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday night at Xfinity Center helped the Terps to their best start since the 1998-99 season.

Except for the last 61/2 minutes of a 67-65 home loss to Nebraska on New Year's Day, Maryland has played fairly well in the Big Ten, winning three games on the road. The Terps will look for their fourth straight road win Saturday at Minnesota.

Asked what the difference has been since the first month of the season, freshman wing Kevin Huerter said: “I think we're getting better at not taking plays off. At the beginning of the year, we would make runs and look really, really good for a stretch, and then we would look really, really bad for a stretch.

“So I think we're getting better at putting together full 40-minute games. It was a big thing to start [the Big Ten season] to say we need to put together a full game, we didn't really end games well. With Big Ten games, with how good the teams are, we can't really settle and depend on our talent to beat teams.”

Though they are still searching for a 40-minute performance, the Terps have had longer stretches when they've clicked offensively.

During a 16-3 run that broke the game open against the Scarlet Knights, Maryland hit six of eight shots, including two 3-pointers by Huerter. The Terps went on to build their lead to as many as 17 points with 9:20 left. Rutgers (12-9, 1-7) never got closer than within nine thereafter.

“We were lucky to be up at half. We hit a big 3 [by graduate transfer forward L.G. Gill] before halftime,” said Turgeon, whose Terps used an 8-2 burst before halftime to take a 34-29 lead. “And then we were really good for about 12 minutes. We really played well on both ends and made some shots.”

First-year Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said what stands out about Maryland's fast start in the Big Ten is how much Turgeon relies on his freshmen. The Terps have started both Huerter and guard Anthony Cowan every game this season, with forward Justin Jackson starting all but the first two.

“What I'm most impressed with is that they play every night,” Pikiell said of the freshmen. “They're a real consistent class. You don't get that a lot out of freshmen, really consistent in their production.”

Last Thursday at Iowa, Jackson finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, six steals, four assists and two blocks, leading to his being named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week. Against Rutgers, Huerter finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

“In all films, he's like the X-factor for them,” Pikiell said of Huerter. “First of all, he's a terrific passer and he's got great size. He can make 3s; he made some big ones tonight. And he's versatile. He gives them a lot of different looks.”

Putting together the program's best start in 18 years is not something Turgeon has talked about with his team. In fact, neither he nor his players knew about it until a member of the public relations staff mentioned it to Turgeon after the game.

“To be 18-2 and 6-1, I didn't expect it,” Turgeon said. “The exciting thing for me is we can get so much better. We can play better than we've been, starting with rebounding and taking care of the ball. It's great to be mentioned in the same breath with that team, but it's not something that we set a goal for.”

Junior guard Melo Trimble puts some of the onus on himself. While he was happy with his team-high 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting, he knows he has to keep trusting his young teammates.

Asked what he and the Terps have to do to cut down on turnovers — he had five of the team's 18 against Rutgers — Trimble said: “Just be sure. Don't try to make the hero play. A couple of times myself, I tried to do too much. You always want to make the right play, but sometimes it's too much.”

Trimble was asked about the 1998-99 team, which finished 28-6 led by All-American Steve Francis.

“Steve Francis, I don't really remember that year,” Trimble said with a sheepish smile. “Our biggest thing is just getting better. It's a long season.”

don.markus@baltsun.com

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