As an elite defender, guard Darryl Morsell is encouraged to put his energy toward limiting the opposition’s top offensive threat. In Maryland men’s basketball’s 69-60 win over Minnesota on Friday, he held guard Amir Coffey to six first-half points, stymieing the Gophers’ star until the Terps opened up a big second-half lead.

With guards Eric Ayala and Anthony Cowan as the primary ballhandlers and distributors, Morsell isn’t expected to contribute much on the offensive end. At times this year, Morsell has hampered the team with turnovers — usually by forcing passes as he cuts into the lane.

As of late, though, Morsell has shown improvement on offense. He’s reached 10 points in consecutive outings and doled out a combined seven assists, while going consecutive games without a turnover for the first time in his career. And with Morsell’s clean play against Minnesota, Maryland had a positive turnover margin for the first time in Big Ten play.

“He’s making better decisions in the lane,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “Darryl has worked harder the past six weeks, and it shows in his game.”

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Turnovers have been an issue for Turgeon’s team throughout the season. Even after the past two games, the Terps’ 13.2 turnovers per game and -3.7 turnover margin are the worst in the conference.

Morsell has often been one of the main culprits. When the Terps committed a season-high 21 en route to an upset loss to Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 26, Morsell threw away four of them. He’s reached that number three times since.

Against Michigan on Feb. 16, Morsell had a team-high four giveaways and scored two points in 15 minutes of play. His final one — a cross-court pass to Cowan that was too high and sailed out of bounds — led to the Wolverines banking a 15-point lead with five minutes remaining before halftime.

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All four of Morsell’s turnovers against Iowa came during a tight second half, although the Hawkeyes couldn’t convert any of them into points. And on the Terps’ first possession against Penn State, Morsell forced a feed to forward Bruno Fernando on a pick-and-roll. The ball never reached its target, setting the tone for the Nittany Lions’ rout.

The Terps cured their turnover bug in last week’s rematch against Michigan — which, against a top-10 squad, still resulted in a loss — and in Friday’s win over the Golden Gophers.

“It’s not like we weren’t talking about it in January, because we were,” Turgeon said. “Guys are just making better decisions, getting in the paint, not rushing things.”

But Turgeon especially emphasized ball security during practices in the buildup to the regular season finale Friday, telling his players they were allowed only one turnover.

“One was our limit,” forward Jalen Smith said. “Just make sure you caution yourself.”

As Morsell cut out his turnovers, his distribution led to buckets.

In last week’s loss to Michigan, Morsell hit Smith for a 3-pointer on Maryland’s opening possession. Five minutes later, he rifled a pass from the right wing to Fernando at the left block, leading to a dunk and early four-point lead.

Morsell also found Ayala down low for a layup, pushing the pace after corralling a defensive rebound and converting the quick passes into the paint that had caused him trouble in the past. On Friday, the Baltimore native assisted on a trio 3-pointers in another turnover-free performance.

Morsell’s resurgence comes as Maryland prepares for the Big Ten tournament in Chicago, entering as a No. 5 seed. He’ll continue to factor in as the Terps’ top-level defender, but any offensive contributions he can provide — even if limited to merely taking care of the ball — would give Maryland an important boost.

“We’ve changed some things offensively to help give us a little more movement, play through different guys, and I think it’s helping,” Turgeon said. “Our turnovers have come down.”