Maryland Basketball: Takeaways from Terps thrilling comeback win over Minnesota

2. Daniel Oturu wins the battle, while Jalen Smith wins the war

In the battle of big-time bigs, Daniel Oturu out-dueled Jalen Smith, though Smith’s team walked away with the victory. Smith battled Oturu especially hard down low and usually avoided letting Minnesota’s star pin him deep. But Oturu had the outside shot falling on Wednesday, hitting 2 of his 3 attempts from 3-point range and going 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

But Smith was no slouch himself, collecting 16 hard-earned points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field to go with his 12 rebounds and three combined steals/blocks.

Smith was an extremely hard worker in this one, serving as Maryland’s most aggressive player in the back-and-forth first half. He grabbed four offensive rebounds–one more than Oturu–and was able to show off his touch from the free throw line in lieu of 3-point attempts, of which Smith was 1-for-3. “Stix” was effective all night as a screener, freeing up the Terrapin guards for numerous easy drives to the rim. He was an effective scorer himself, creating looks off of his usual mix of drives to the rim and post-up hook shots. Oturu made him work for it but Smith showed no difficulties scoring on one of the best big men in the nation in a truly awesome one-on-one matchup.

Smith’s final points of the evening were his most important. With the Terrapins trailing by four points with just over 15 seconds left, Smith set a screen for Anthony Cowan. With both Minnesota defenders concerned with stopping Smith on the roll, Cowan was free to fire up a deep 3-point shot that missed. But the brief moment that two men were guarding the ball left an open lane for Smith to charge in and get a putback slam to cut the deficit to two points. This play would become even more crucial after the Terps rebounded the ensuing missed Gophers free throw and nailed a 3-pointer for the win.