Life is good for the Terrapins men’s basketball team on days of home games. They’re treated like celebrities at Xfinity Center. They’re not far from their favorite restaurants, hangout spots and friends.

But road games? Those are different. The Terps have to take a bus or plane and are forced to make sense of coach Mark Turgeon’s instructions amidst the howls of rowdy fans.

Last season, the Terps were inconsistent in that type of environment. They compiled a 6-4 mark in true road games, including a seven-point loss to an Illinois team that didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Two nights ago, this year’s squad passed its second road test with a 72-59 win at Northwestern. The box score points to a 13-point win, but it’s deceiving. The No. 4 Terps dominated for large stretches of the game and held a 20-point halftime lead.

READ MORE: Rasheed Sulaimon rebounded from a rough outing to lead Terps over Northwestern

Playing away from the Xfinity Center, the Terps hardly missed a beat. And if the trend continues, that could be an important difference between this season’s team and last season’s.

Good teams win at home. Great teams win on the road.

“They’ve kind of embraced the road [Saturday],” Turgeon said. “Kind of liked the environment.”

Saturday, 8,117 fans squeezed into Welsh-Ryan Arena eager to see a Northwestern squad in the midst of its best start in 85 years try to take down the nationally touted Terps.

But at various points, the Terps halted their excitement. After drilling a 3-pointer to put the Terps up 33-14 in the first half, guard Rasheed Sulaimon hollered “Let’s go,” for all to hear.

And in the second half, guard Melo Trimble silenced the purple-clad Wildcats supporters with a 3-pointer of his own.

“Our guys like to be challenged. You’re coming in to play a team on their home court, they’re averaging 80 points per game and great shooters all around,” Turgeon said. “Our guys were really dialed in. …I think our guys embrace the road.”

The win marked the Terps’ first true road victory of the season after coming close at North Carolina on Dec. 1. If not for a dreadful first six minutes of basketball during which they committed six turnovers, the Terps looked good enough to leave the famed Dean Dome with a win.

Road games don’t provide clear previews of NCAA tournament games, which are played at neutral sites, but being able to persevere in unruly environments provides something not gleaned from statistics. It proves something more important.

Teams that are able to win on the road are tough teams. And tough teams make championship teams.

Duke, the 2015 NCAA champions, went 9-2 on the road with wins over then-No. 2 Wisconsin, then-No. 6 Louisville and then-No. 2 Virginia. They made easy work of their NCAA tournament foes, capturing victories in their first five games by an average of 17.6 points before outlasting Wisconsin, 68-63, in the national title game.

Plus, road triumphs are worth 1.4 wins in the RPI. Home victories count for .6 wins.

Every percentage point in the RPI counts comes tournament time. Last season, the No. 4-seed Terps bowed out after a 69-59 loss to No. 5-seed West Virginia in the third round. By comparison, the No. 1-seed Blue Devils played No. 8-seed San Diego State in that round.

Seeding implications aside, being able to win on the road demonstrates a team is in the right place mentally. They don’t break down when the going gets tough. They embrace the villain role. Teammates trust each other to make the right move in high-pressure situations.

The Terps have plenty more opportunities to test themselves on the road. Their next chance comes Jan. 9 at Wisconsin, with a trip to Michigan three days later.

Better get used to sleeping on the plane.