COLLEGE PARK — During men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon’s first eight seasons at Maryland, his teams rarely went to a zone defense.

Deeply rooted in the man-to-man principles he learned during his college career under Larry Brown at Kansas, Turgeon usually left his own comfort zone to go into a 3-2 alignment only out of sheer desperation. It happened twice last season, turning a seven-point deficit early in the second half into a 15-point runaway win at Minnesota and nearly getting the Terps to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament when they rallied from a 14-point deficit in a 69-67 loss to LSU.

Those results, as well as the personnel he is preparing for the 2019-20 season, have made Turgeon break from what he has done the past 21 years as a Division I coach. He sees the possibility of a zone defense pushing Maryland over the hump in its quest to win its first Big Ten title and play deeper into March.

“I think this team kind of sets up defensively to play well no matter what [defense] we’re in,” Turgeon said after practice Wednesday. “I think we’ve got good length, we’ve got good speed.

“We’re more comfortable in [zone defense]. I think we were good in it last year because we ran it against the right teams and at the right time, but I definitely think it will be part of our base defense this year.

“How much we run it depends on the game, but it’s going to be a part of our package.”

While Turgeon certainly won’t reinvent himself as the Big Ten’s answer to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, he seems to have embraced playing zone. Turgeon got a chance to play against the Syracuse zone in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge two years ago, and with the help of Kevin Huerter’s long-range shooting, Maryland nearly won in the Carrier Dome.

“I think length makes their zone what it is,” Turgeon said of Syracuse. “I think practicing helps whatever you do.

“We’re always a good man-to-man team because we work hard at it. It doesn’t mean we can’t be a really good zone team if we work at it. It’s just more length [and] knowing the rules: knowing where the ball is, knowing what you have to do and react quickly, [and] knowing what you can’t give up and can give up.

“One thing about zone, you’ve just got to be able to rebound out of it, and that’s why I like the zone that we do because we’re matched up a lot [against individual players]. When you’re matched up, you rebound better out of [zone].”

Former Division I coach and current ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg believes that the Terps can be effective in the zone, largely because of the team’s length and athleticism.

“The biggest thing about Maryland’s roster is their versatility,” Greenberg said after attending a practice last week. “Could they put a lineup out there that could be a good zone team? Yeah, but you just don’t say, ‘I’m going to play zone.’

“The commitment you have to playing zone, you have to invest time in it. Will Mark invest a little bit of time every day to develop a zone that he can count on as a secondary defense? I think he will.”

But knowing Turgeon as well as he does, Greenberg thinks he is still a man-to-man coach.

“He’s going to play man-to-man because that’s who he is and that’s what he believes in,” Greenberg said. “Coaches will all adjust.

“With the line moving back, you can play your man [defense] like zone. With him, they’re not going to guard non-shooters.”

It makes sense that the Terps could be a good zone team, given that this year’s team is longer, taller and more athletic than any Turgeon has coached at Maryland and possibly in his career. Plus,the only player among last season’s top eight who didn’t return — center Bruno Fernando — will likely be replaced by 6-foot-8 sophomore Ricky Lindo Jr. and 6-10 freshman Makhi Mitchell.

“Without Bruno, and young guys behind ‘Stix’ [Jalen Smith], we’ve got to play more zone just to stay out of foul trouble, to stay out of the bonus,” Turgeon said. “To keep ‘Stix’ out of foul trouble, we might have to do that. It doesn’t mean he’s not going to foul in the zone too.

“We’ve worked hard at both this year. I’m very comfortable at both. It all depends on who we’re playing and how effective it is.”

While the Terps lost Fernando, who led Maryland and was fourth in the Big Ten in blocks per game (1.9), they have a small battalion of big men who can be effective both at the top of the 3-2 zone — as Turgeon used to do with Jake Layman on occasion — and at the back end to protect the rim.

Smith and Lindo showed their shot-blocking abilities last season. Smith was second to Fernando in blocks (1.2) and had five against LSU in the NCAA Tournament. The biggest play Lindo made as a freshman was swatting away a half-court lob to preserve a 74-72 win over Nebraska.

Then there’s 7-2, 230-pound freshman Chol Marial, who is expected to be sidelined until late November — at the earliest — after undergoing surgery Sept. 4 to repair stress fractures in both legs. With his 7-8 wingspan, Marial’s immediate role will be as a shot blocker, perhaps when the Terps play zone.

“I was born with it,” Marial said with a laugh of his length at media day last week.

Playing more zone might even help the Terps be more efficient when facing a zone, something with which they’ve often struggled.

Given the 3-point shooters on this year’s team, led by sophomores Aaron Wiggins and Eric Ayala, Maryland might be less affected by the 3-point line being moved back more than a foot — to 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches — than some of its Big Ten rivals.

The Terps finished tied with Purdue in 3-point-shooting percentage in conference games last season, and the Boilermakers lost their top three 3-point shooters, including Carsen Edwards.

“I think with the new 3-point line, it’s something you really need to look into,” Turgeon said about playing more zone. “I don’t know how much they moved it back, but it makes a big difference.”

Using the zone in practice during the preseason might also help Maryland’s offense in the long run.

“Zones are different and we mostly see 2-3,” Turgeon said. “In our private scrimmage [against Pittsburgh on Saturday], we saw 2-3. I think you attack a 3-2 different than you do a 2-3. It might help against playing inside-out against both kind of zones.”

Based on the success the team had playing zone last season, Turgeon’s players are looking forward to showing it more.

“We’ve got a lot of length with 6-5, 6-6 guys all over the court, with 6-9 wingspans — that can be something we play against and something we use,” Wiggins said. “I think it’s something Turg will implement in a few games this year.”

Said Ayala: “I think we’ve got the athleticism to do it. We’re big, long. We got a lot of different lineups we can go to and mess teams up.”