Guard Jaylen Brantley hits a 3-pointer during Maryland’s 96-55 win over St. Francis (PA) at Xfinity Center on Dec. 4, 2015.

For the first seven games of the Terrapins men’s basketball season, guard Jaylen Brantley seemed timid when he caught the ball. Though coach Mark Turgeon labeled him a shooter in the preseason, his first instinct always seemed to be to pass.

The sophomore attempted just three field goals and had one point in his Terps career through the first seven games. But the junior college transfer exploded in the final three minutes of the first half of the No. 2 Terps’ 96-55 trouncing of St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday night. 

After knocking down a pull-up jumper with 2:22 left, he scored five more points in the next two minutes. The sophomore wouldn’t score for the remainder of the contest, but in those three minutes, he exceeded his previous season high. 

“He played with more confidence,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “He’d been practicing better. …The guys believe in him. The guys were really happy for him when he hit those back-to-back shots.”

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In his postgame press conference after the Terps’ 89-81 loss to No. 9 North Carolina this past Tuesday, Turgeon emphasized the need for more guard depth. The starting backcourt of guards Melo Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon had played 73 minutes and combined for 41 points, but they tired down the stretch because Turgeon said he didn’t trust anyone to spell them earlier in the contest. 

But what turned into the Terps’ biggest win in five seasons Friday allowed Turgeon to give Brantley an extended look. After logging one minute against the Tar Heels, Brantley played 14 minutes against the Red Flash. 

“Now I know [Turgeon] can trust me in the game now when Melo or Sheed is out,” Brantley said. “That was really huge and just me getting the trust from my teammates throughout the game was big, too.”

The Springfield, Massachusetts, native said his late-first-half surge was instrumental to his success, especially watching that first jump shot swish through the net. On that play, Brantley pump-faked from behind the arc, and it seemed he might be passing up a shot again. Instead, he drove toward the baseline and buried a pull-up. 

And he showed no hesitation when he got an open look 41 seconds later. 

“Big sigh of relief,” Brantley said of his first bucket in a Terps uniform. “And then once I got the next one, I knew I was shooting it.”

By the final buzzer, Brantley had attempted more shots in Friday’s game (four) than he had in the first seven games (three). 

Senior forward Jake Layman, who played with Brantley in the Boston Amateur Basketball Club, said he saw the type of scorer he was accustomed to playing alongside years ago. 

“It was great to see him show confidence out there and be aggressive,” Layman said. “We haven’t really seen that from him yet in a game situation. I was just really happy for him to kind of break out and kind of be really aggressive.”

Brantley resembled the type of player Turgeon described on media day Oct. 20, the type of player the fifth-year coach hopes to see more of with limited ball handlers on the bench. 

As the season wears on and Trimble continues to log big minutes, Brantley and Turgeon both said, having Brantley as a productive option will be crucial. 

“We need him,” Turgeon said. “I just got to keep showing confidence in him.”