Whether it was an 11 a.m. start, USC Upstate’s matchup zone, just a bad shooting day or a combination of all three, the Terrapins men’s basketball team struggled mightily on the offensive end in the first half of Saturday’s contest. The Terps entered the break down four points and seemed in danger of suffering their first bad loss of the season.

But coach Mark Turgeon’s squad turned it around in the second half, shooting 65 percent over the final 20 minutes to earn a 67-57 comeback win over the Spartans at Xfinity Center.

Here are my takeaways from the victory:

– The Terps jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first five minutes of action behind a couple baskets around the rim from forward Damonte Dodd and a three from forward Jared Nickens. The ball movement was crisp, Dodd provided a serious mismatch down low and Turgeon’s squad appeared to have put its offensive problems against the zone in the past.

But after Dodd went to the bench at the 14:42 mark because of an early foul, the Terps offense came to a standstill (Dodd picked up his second foul with around 10 minutes remaining and only logged six first-half minutes). The Terps finished the period shooting 25.7 percent from the field, including 2 of 17 from three. As Turgeon pointed out after the game, the Terps missed a whole bunch of wide-open looks. However, they displayed similar inadequacies in a win over Fordham, when they shot 36.4 percent in the first half against the Rams’ zone.

– The Terps found their groove offensively in the second half behind forward Jake Layman, who scored 16 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes. Layman said after the game improved ball movement was key in the surge.

The junior hit a couple important 3-pointers down the stretch to help stave off a USC Upstate team that refused to go away. Layman also added this dunk that gave the Terps the lead for good early in the second half after guard Richaud Pack chased down a loose ball.

– Playing in his third game all season because of a lingering foot injury, forward Evan Smoctryz earned some important second-half minutes, finishing with 10 points and six boards.

More importantly, the senior reported no health issues after the game. Smoctryz said he felt some mild soreness in his foot, but nothing “unusual.” That’s a good sign for this team moving forward, as he provides a steady rebounding presence and floor spacing — like on this three, which came as part of the Terps’ 12-2 run early in the second half that ballooned the lead to six points.

– Guard Melo Trimble recorded his first-career double-double Saturday with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Of those 14 points, 12 came in the second half. None were more important than this and-1 and the subsequent free throw, which cut the deficit to one point with 15:34 left in regulation and set the stage for Layman’s go-ahead dunk.