Forward Jake Layman goes in for a one handed dunk during the Terps’ 48-15 halftime lead over Bowie State at Xfinity Center on Nov. 8 2014.
Jake Layman had what Terrapins men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon called a “tough practice” on Thursday. Several days before that, the forward committed six turnovers in the Terps’ exhibition-opening win over San Francisco State.
“I was worried about him,” Turgeon said.
But in Saturday’s exhibition against Bowie State, the Terps’ final tuneup before the regular season begins Friday, Layman buried a 3-pointer from the corner about four minutes in. Two minutes later, he tipped in a Michal Cekovsky miss to push his team’s lead to 11-3. And if that wasn’t enough to alleviate his coach’s concerns, the 6-foot-9 junior threw down a dunk, hit a free throw and drained another 3-pointer in a three-minute span later in the first half.
Layman wound up scoring a game-high 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead the Terps to a 89-47 victory over the Division II Bulldogs.
“He was definitely different today,” Turgeon said. “He got some good looks early, and that got him going.”
The Massachusetts native made 7 of 8 shots from the field and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. And along with senior guard Dez Wells, he helped the team snap out of an offensive funk early in the contest. He also dished out two assists to one turnover.
Layman credits some of his success to the recently debuted motion offense, which allows the team to space the floor. San Francisco State played a 2-3 zone throughout their contest with the Terps, so Saturday’s bout with Bowie State was the first time the Terps ran their new offense against a man-to-man defense in public.
“We have an offense in place, but Coach is kind of letting us play,” Layman said. “There’s not really many sets that we run. We just call the motion, and it’s kind of up to us to make the right decisions … and I think our offense is looking a lot more fluid.”
Layman often took advantage of his offensive freedom to find open spots on the perimeter or to slice through the lane. He also flashed his athleticism with a pair of transition dunks.
Turgeon was impressed by more than Layman’s scoring touch, though. Layman also had his hand in a dominating defensive effort in which the Terps held Bowie State to 22.2 percent shooting from the field.
“About a year ago, he was not a good defender,” Turgeon said. “Now I’m not afraid to put him on anybody on the court. He’s really, really improved.”
Layman’s commitment to defense has seemed to rub off on a four-member freshman class that figures to play a significant part in the Terps’ season. As forward Evan Smotrycz remains sidelined while recovering from a fractured foot, Layman and Wells are the only two healthy Terps who started more than two games for the team last season.
“I can go to them for anything,” freshman guard Jared Nickens said of Layman and Wells. “They always have my back and give me advice for things to do on the court and off the court.”
After Saturday, Layman has a solid performance of his own to point to while he’s mentoring Nickens and the team’s other freshmen. But the lanky forward was quick to say his hot shooting night won’t really impact his approach moving into the regular season.
In fact, Layman said: “Even if I was 0-for-7 today, I’d come in with the same mindset next Friday.”
Turgeon wasn’t overly interested in Layman’s shooting numbers either. He simply was happy to see one of his leaders play more aggressively and confidently after several discouraging performances over the past week.
“Jake’s not going to be 7-for-8 every game,” Turgeon said. “But that’s the Jake we need: more solid, comfortable, more relaxed, playing within himself. It was good to see.”
