Terps take it easy

After playing one of his most complete games of the season Saturday afternoon, Pe'Shon Howard went straight back to the hardwood at Comcast Center, taking on two young kids in a game of pickup.

The Terrapin men's basketball guard drained shot after shot against his outmatched foes, finding time for a bit of levity after an impressive performance against Wake Forest that was all business.

While forward Jordan Williams' 20th double-double of the season and coach Gary Williams' 664th career win — one that equaled legendary coach John Wooden — were obvious highlights of the Terps' dominant 91-70 win against Wake Forest, Howard might have been the most surprising.

He set up an alley-oop to forward Dino Gregory and several easy dunks for forward Jordan Williams as he tied his career high with eight assists. Even on an off day for his shooting, Howard's passing and court vision kept the announced sellout crowd in attendance interested long after the game was in hand.

"It gets me excited, too," Gary Williams said. "Pe'Shon is a little bit of a throwback. He really just likes to play basketball. You can tell he's playing hard and having fun."

Replacing guard Terrell Stoglin in the starting lineup, Howard nailed the game's first shot with a 3-pointer from the left side. He hit another one later in the half, and his immediate energy quickly spread out to his teammates.

"He's a big-time player," Jordan Williams said. "He's matured so much from the beginning of the year. He's getting better every day. I saw signs of it over the summer."

"I love getting my teammates involved," Howard said. "I want the team to do well. I don't want it to seem like the seniors do their part and Jordan does his part, but the freshmen or point guards are letting us down."

The Terps (14-8, 5-4 ACC) played one of their most efficient offensive games of the season. Their 27 assists matched a season best, and their nine turnovers were at least two fewer than in any game this season.

Both in transition and their half-court offense, the Terps found a way to get back to the basics: attacking the basket in the paint with their most potent scorer, Williams.

After the sophomore tied a career high with 27 points and added 15 rebounds, Williams joined just seven other freshmen and sophomores in ACC history to amass 20 double-doubles in a single season.

With his team's NCAA Tournament prospects far from bright, the performance was certainly well timed.

After Howard hit his second 3-pointer of the game with 7:08 remaining in the second half, Wake Forest (8-15, 1-6) never came within eight points of the lead. The Terps had seven players with at least seven points and scored 27 off the bench.

Winners of four of their past five games, the Terps showed no signs of their 18-point loss to No. 5 Duke on Wednesday. By winning the rebound battle, hitting free throws and making several key runs, they had little trouble against a hapless Demon Deacon squad.

"If you listen to a lot of people after the Duke game, it's the end of the season if you lose," Gary Williams said. "There's always more games to play. I've always been like that. You get knocked down, you get up. It's no more complicated than that."

No player embodied that philosophy more than Howard. The freshman has struggled since the start of conference play, including a poor performance against Virginia Tech during which he missed all five of his shots and committed three turnovers.

But Saturday, in his first start since that loss, Howard looked like an experienced veteran slicing up an ACC defense with ease rather than a hesitant freshman still finding his place.

"It starts with practice," Howard said. "I was pretty comfortable, and I've become more assertive. ... I just try to make the right plays, and sometimes there's a little extra flair."

ceckard@umdbk.com