Guard Pe’Shon Howard totaled seven points, seven rebounds and a career-high 13 assists on 1-of-2 shooting in the Terps’ 91-74 victory against LIU Brooklyn on Friday at Comcast Center.

Pe’Shon Howard is no stranger to criticism. The Terrapins men’s basketball point guard hears it every day in practice.

When he commits a turnover or takes an ill-advised shot, Howard has four former point guards — coach Mark Turgeon and assistants Dalonte Hill, Bino Ranson and Scott Spinelli — barking in his ear. When he reviews game film one-on-one with Turgeon, a captain on Kansas’ 1986 Final Four team, there is rarely a miscue that goes unidentified.

So when Turgeon approached Howard after Friday’s 91-74 win over LIU Brooklyn and praised the junior for dishing out 13 assists, few could’ve blamed the Los Angeles native for basking in a rare compliment. Instead, Howard provided one final assist.

“Coach told me, ‘Good job getting so many assists,’ and I told him, ‘It only happens if they make shots,’” recalled Howard, who will hope to follow up that star-making performance tonight against Lafayette.

It was a telling statement. After missing 18 games last year with a broken bone in his left foot and a torn ACL, Howard is embracing his role as the facilitator of a suddenly deep Terps offense.

That became clear when Howard delivered perhaps the most impeccable stat line of his Terps career against the Blackbirds. He had 13 assists, seven rebounds, seven points on 1-of-2 shooting (4-of-4 on free throws) and one turnover in 32 minutes.

After the game, Turgeon said it wouldn’t be fair to expect that kind of output every night. Howard, though, sees no reason why not.

“When I walk into a game, my double-double is really assists and rebounds. That’s what I’m trying to get,” said Howard, whose 13 assists fell just two short of Greivis Vasquez’s program record. “Hopefully if I can, I’ll switch to triple-doubles. But that’s my goal every night, is just make sure I can help my teammates.”

That task got a bit easier this season. With the addition of a four-member freshman class ranked No. 18 nationally and two key transfers in Logan Aronhalt and Dez Wells, Howard said he now feels no pressure to score. He is free to focus on defending, rebounding and finding the open man.

But getting comfortable in that role took some time. Recognizing Howard’s improved jump shot, Turgeon begged his starting point guard to shoot throughout the preseason. Howard responded with a disappointing 1-of-8 showing in the season opener against Kentucky, pressing at times in an effort to satisfy his coach.

Howard became a bit less trigger-happy when the Terps returned to Comcast Center, registering zero shot attempts Monday against Morehead State and two Friday against LIU Brooklyn. Counting an exhibition win over Indiana (Pa.), Howard shot 3-of-14 over his first two games this season. He is 1-of-2 in the past two.

“After the [Morehead State] game, people were making a big deal, like, ‘Why didn’t you take a shot?’” Howard said. “I didn’t care. I just wanted my teammates to be happy. I wanted everybody to have fun and make sure that we’re doing well.”

Mission accomplished. Howard’s 25-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio this season has been an integral part of the Terps’ early success and has helped silence questions about whether freshman Seth Allen should replace him in the starting lineup.

Allen has impressed early with his offensive repertoire, but Turgeon mentioned last week the Woodbridge, Va., native still has a scorer’s mentality. He looks for his shot before trying to run the offense. Given the Terps’ sudden abundance of offensive weapons, Turgeon prefers to have a starting floor general who is content serving as a distributor.

“If you bring a scoring point guard in, he’s going to take the role as a combo guard. We don’t really need that,” Wells said. “[Howard] scores when necessary, and he passes when necessary, and he does what he’s supposed to do. He does what Coach Turgeon asks of him.”

Turgeon has high expectations for his point guard play. It’s why he hounds Howard in practice, giving him little room for error.

But Friday, Turgeon had no constructive criticism for his No. 1 pupil. At least for one night, he was content.

“I don’t know if he can play like that [all season],” Turgeon said. “For this early in the year, that was a good game. I was proud of him.”

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