A star-studded freshman class has dominated the national and local conversation around the Terrapins men’s basketball team’s surprising season for the past several months, but last night, the squad leaned on two seniors to sidestep disaster against Penn State.

Whether it was guard Dez Wells’ vicious slam over 6-foot-9 forward Donovon Jack or forward Jon Graham’s six rebounds, the Terps’ most experienced players made several plays to jolt a team stuck firmly in a rut. And as the Nittany Lions bounced back from blow after blow, Wells and Graham, who played for Penn State for two years, kept the Terps steady.

The veterans’ resilient effort eventually helped the No. 17 Terps eke out a 64-58 win before an announced 14,195 at Xfinity Center to avoid a crippling upset and their first back-to-back losses of the season. 

Wells led the team with 23 points on the night, scored five of the team’s final seven points and grabbed a key rebound late, but Graham’s performance might have resonated more with the Terps faithful. The fan favorite scored a career-high 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting and spent most of his 20 minutes on the floor battling against larger post players.

“I’m just happy for him; what a great kid,” coach Mark Turgeon said of Graham. “And we needed it. We needed every little point.”

Graham’s production was so crucial because guard Melo Trimble, the face of the Terps’ resurgence, went without a made field goal for a second straight game.

Graham doubled his season-high point total against his old team, Wells scored in bunches and Trimble posted a career-high eight assists as the Terps gutted out a much-needed win. 

The narrow victory over Penn State (14-9, 2-8 Big Ten) comes after a poor three-game stretch in which the Terps (19-4, 7-3) lost two games on the road by a combined 43 points and barely escaped with a home win over Northwestern.

“It’s a good win,” Turgeon said. “It’s a hard win. It’s college basketball.”

The Terps’ recent struggles extended into the first half against the Nittany Lions last night as the offense failed to find a rhythm, and Penn State, which sits at 12th in the Big Ten standings, drilled seven of its first 11 shots.

The sluggish start put the Terps in a four-point hole midway through the first half, but the two senior stars of the victory combined to pull Turgeon’s team out of a funk. Wells scored 12 first-half points to keep the team in the game, and out of the break, Graham turned in his most productive offensive spurt as a Terp.

The Baltimore native scored the team’s first seven points in the second half, and after he finished a layup through contact to give his team a 36-31 lead, the Xfinity Center crowd erupted.

“Scoring 16 is nice, but a win is a win,” said Graham, who credited his offensive numbers to Trimble’s playmaking. “We won the game, so that’s all I’m worried about.”

Graham’s lay-in wouldn’t be the last time a Terps senior drew a monstrous cheer last night.

About six minutes into the half, Wells caught a pass in transition on the right side of the hoop, took one hard dribble and rose toward the rim. Jack jumped to contest the attempt, but Wells flew through contact and slammed the ball home to send the fans into their loudest roar of the night.

“Once I saw I got the ball with a full head of steam, I knew it was going to end up bad for him,” Wells said.

Penn State, though, didn’t crumple in the minutes after Wells’ highlight-reel jam. Guard D.J. Newbill’s scoring kept the Nittany Lions offense afloat, and the Terps’ inability to pull away meant they moved into the final minutes, for the second straight home game, locked in a tight battle against a Big Ten bottom-dweller.

But Trimble dished out two late assists to keep the Terps ahead, and Wells scored five straight points to build a little cushion. 

The team forced Penn State into a five-second inbounds violation with 7.7 seconds left to punctuate a victory fueled by two of its oldest players. 

“Senior leadership is the most important thing on the team,” Wells said. “With me and Jon Graham and Evan [Smotrycz] and the other seniors on the team, we have to step up and do what’s necessary to guide these young guys.”