Terrapins men’s basketball guard Melo Trimble admitted after Thursday’s 81-55 win over Illinois that he just needed to see a shot go in.

His first one did. So, too, did six more. It was the first time the star sophomore point guard made at least six field goals in a game since January.

Trimble entered the game shooting just 14-for-60 (23.3 percent) over the past six games. But he looked like himself again Thursday. The sophomore finished 7-for-14 for 18 points in addition to eight rebounds and five assists.

“This win and this game, the way I played, I really needed that,” Trimble said.

His bounce-back performance could be traced to Tuesday’s practice. Coach Mark Turgeon said it went for 2 hours and 15 minutes, much longer than usual for this time of year, and called it one of the Terps’ best practices of the year.

That was especially true for his point guard.

“It’s the best he’s looked,” Turgeon said.

Trimble’s silky shooting stroke had disappeared over the past few weeks, especially from long range. He’d gone 5-for-22 from beyond the arc during his six-game shooting slump, often forcing up uncomfortable looks.

That wasn’t the case Tuesday in practice.

“I made everything,” Trimble said. “I felt fast. I just felt like myself.”

When asked the last time he felt like that, Trimble took a long pause. He couldn’t remember. He finally took a stab at the answer.

“I think it was last year around this time,” Trimble said.

A season ago, the 6-foot-3 guard was one of the best freshmen in the country, averaging 16.2 points per game and shooting 41.2 percent from deep. It was what earned him the title of Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.

He believed he got back to being that type of player this week, and it seemed to show Thursday.

After Trimble knocked down a 3-pointer less than three minutes into the game, he began attacking the rim, where he was so lethal a season ago. While he only got to the line three times, 10 of his 14 shots came from inside the arc.

In a span of less than a minute about midway through the first half, Trimble scored on back-to-back layups. He had a similar stretch in the second half, too.

He got back to being who he was.

“I haven’t been smiling the way I used to in a while,” Trimble said . “I just had to look in the mirror and see that I have an OK smile and display it on the court today when I made a shot.”