CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Logan Aronhalt is no longer the athletic stud who could slam down dunks with ease and occasionally posterize an unsuspecting defender. Nearly a year removed from his days starring for Albany, the senior transfer is a weary veteran on a youthful Terrapins men’s basketball team.
He fights through daily back, knee and ankle pain, and always makes sure to spend extra time stretching out his many kinks before games. So Mark Turgeon had a blunt response when Aronhalt sat in his office earlier this month and told the second-year coach his ailments should be completely healed in the coming weeks.
“Well, you better get there quick,” Turgeon said. “It’s almost over.”
Aronhalt’s name isn’t listed on any NBA mock drafts, and Euroleague teams likely won’t clamor for his services when his one-year Terps stint expires. But Aronhalt put on a show for the half dozen or so professional scouts on hand for Tuesday night’s 69-58 loss at Boston College.
The guard hit 7-of-12 3-pointers to finish with 26 points. It was the Terps’ highest individual output all season, and Aronhalt’s gaudiest stat line since he dropped 28 against UMBC while playing for the Great Danes on Jan. 26, 2011.
Aronhalt has fit a niche role for the Terps this season. He’s been called upon for brief stretches throughout games for a singular purpose: stretch opposing defenses with made threes. Only nine of his 56 field goals this season have been of the two-point variety, and only a handful of those were within 15 feet.
But when the Terps struggled to score early Tuesday, Aronhalt was happy to take on a heavier load. He logged 31 minutes against the Eagles, his first time topping the 20-minute mark this season.
Turgeon subbed Aronhalt into the game after the Terps missed their first five shots, and the former All-America East Conference performer soon provided an offensive spark. He netted a layup and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions midway through the first half and erupted minutes before intermission.
Aronhalt hit three straight 3-pointers over a 50-second span to give Turgeon’s squad a nine-point lead and he entered halftime with 15 points — just two shy of his previous Terps career-high. No other Terp topped four by the break.
He continued to pour it on in the second half, netting three 3-pointers and hitting both of his free throws.
But it hardly mattered. Aronhalt’s teammates shot 4-of-23 from the field — including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc — in the final 20 minutes. The offensive meltdown allowed Boston College to nearly double the Terps’ second-half point total and turn a seven-point halftime deficit into an 11-point Eagles victory.
“I don’t think any one guy has to carry this team,” Aronhalt said. “We have to have several guys step up every night.”
Aronhalt doesn’t consider himself a vocal leader of this inexperienced Terps bunch. He’s a quiet guy who appreciates his alone time and leads by example on and off the court.
So Aronhalt doesn’t believe Tuesday’s outburst was anything special. He was just doing his job, fulfilling his duty as the elder statesman to step up when no one else will.
“It’s about the team,” Aronhalt said. “If that means playing five to 10 minutes and not scoring at all, or coming out like I did tonight and putting up a lot of points. Whatever your role, you just have to come out and do it every day.”
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