EAST LANSING, Mich. — Shortly after guard Aaron Wiggins’ 3-pointer led to the under-8 media timeout in the first half of Maryland men’s basketball’s 69-55 loss to Michigan State, center Jalen Smith ran out of the huddle clutching his nose.
As the freshman disappeared up the tunnel, forward Bruno Fernando and a slew of team managers got to work toweling off the drips of blood that he’d left behind on the Breslin Center floor.
Smith returned quickly and didn’t appear to have any further nosebleeds, but he never found his footing Monday against the Spartans, the latest disappointing game in the rookie’s increasingly inconsistent campaign.
Since a string of strong showings early this month, Smith has turned in middling performances against Wisconsin and Ohio State and duds against Indiana and Michigan State. Along with significant struggles against Virginia and Purdue early this year, the McDonald’s All-American has established a pattern of quiet performances in big games.
[Read more: No. 6 Michigan State sprints past No. 13 Maryland men’s basketball in 69-55 loss]
At the same time that Smith seemed to hit a snag, Wiggins has hit his stride, helping the Terps win seven straight and rise to No. 13 in the nation despite Smith failing to establish himself in some of those victories.
“[Smith] just didn’t have a good night,” Turgeon said Monday. “It’s an eye-opener for him, you know, just how big and physical the elite teams are. He’ll learn from it.”
The Spartans were without forward Joshua Langford on Monday, and forward Nick Ward collected four fouls in 14 minutes trying to guard Bruno Fernando. That left Smith doing battle with forward Kenny Goins, who limited him to six points on 3-for-8 shooting.
Perhaps more glaring was Smith’s ineffectiveness on the glass. The freshman corralled just three rebounds in 27 minutes, and had countless opportunities knocked from his grasp by Michigan State’s aggressive bigs.
“[Smith] is still young,” guard Darryl Morsell said. “He’s taking this with a grain of salt. He’s learning from it. He’s going to be fine. He’s a smart kid [and] he’s a tough kid.”
[Read more: Maryland men’s basketball leaps to No. 13 in AP poll]
Smith opened his career with six consecutive games in double figures and is averaging 12.2 points. But he’s been quiet in some of Maryland’s biggest matchups, with seven points or fewer against the Cavaliers, Boilermakers and Spartans.
The Baltimore native powered the Terps early this month, tallying at least 15 points against Nebraska, Rutgers and Minnesota and scoring the game-winner against the Cornhuskers. In the four games since, however, he’s averaging 7.3 points on 28.6 percent shooting.
“Freshmen are always going to hit a little bump in the road,” Morsell said.
Over the past two games, Wiggins has seemed to move past those rookie struggles. The 6-foot-6 guard hadn’t broken double figures since Dec. 11 before scoring 11 points against Ohio State on Friday, and he followed that up with a career-high 15 points against the Spartans.
“[Wiggins] really shot the ball with confidence,” guard Anthony Cowan said after the win over the Buckeyes. “Coach really told him that he has to hit shots for us, and he’s got to get some shots up for us.”
A hip injury to guard Eric Ayala meant Wiggins got extensive minutes against Ohio State, and he took advantage of it by draining four of his seven shots. Three days later, Wiggins made three 3-pointers in the final 15 minutes as the Terps tried to stage a comeback in East Lansing.
“I’m glad Aaron made some shots,” Turgeon said. “He took some tough ones and made them. Kind of opened things up for us, which was good.”
Wiggins is shooting 55 percent from three-point range over the past five games, boosting his season average to 43.2 percent. After his 5-for-9 night from beyond the arc against the Spartans, he explained that coach Tom Izzo’s squad repeatedly gave him too much room to shoot.
“My coaches always tell me, ‘Don’t let anyone go under your screen. You can shoot the ball,’” Wiggins said. “That’s one thing that I just picked up on. When guys would go under the screen, I would shoot.”
Against Ohio State, five of Maryland’s freshmen combined for 31 points, complementing 20 from Cowan. That formula didn’t work against the Spartans, who made Cowan a nonfactor while also preventing many of Maryland’s supporting pieces from contributing. Aside from Wiggins, Smith and Ayala were the only other freshmen to score, combining for 11 points.
Three days after the Terps pulled off a huge road victory, one of the nation’s best teams made them look pedestrian and showed how critical young players like Smith are to their success.
“I don’t like to make excuses for our team being young, because our young guys can play.” Morsell said. “They’re elite freshmen. Michigan State’s just a good team.”
