In a thrilling finish, the Terrapins men’s basketball team fell to George Washington, 77-75, after Colonials guard Maurice Creek hit the game-winning shot over guard Nick Faust with 0.6 seconds remaining.

It was another uneven performance from the Terps, who trailed by as many as 14 points, much like Wednesday night’s loss at No. 5 Ohio State. It’s a disappointing loss, and it was definitely a winnable game for the Terps with ACC play opening Thursday at Boston College.

The turnovers persisted, the shots weren’t falling (again) and foul trouble plagued the Terps in the type of performance that seems to be becoming the norm.

But there were a few key differences from Wednesday night to Sunday night.

1) KEY COMEBACK

As the Terps fell behind early in the first half and the Colonials answered each scoring spurt, it seemed like the deficit wouldn’t change and the Terps would leave the icy District with a large loss.

But the Terps closed the gap and tied the game at 73-73 after forward Charles Mitchell cleaned up an errant corner 3-pointer from forward Evan Smotrycz. From there, the Terps had a few chances to win the game before Creek’s heave from a step inside the three-point line.

The most interesting part about the late surge? It happened with guard Dez Wells on the bench after he picked up his fifth foul with 6:09 remaining. The Terps trailed the Colonials, 66-54, at that juncture and outscored them 21-11 the rest of the way.

Guard Roddy Peters made a number of key plays, including a steal after a missed 3-pointer by guard Nick Faust. The freshman jumped in front of a pass by forward Isaiah Armwood and then cut through the defense for a layup to bring the Terps within 71-69.

Peters also hit a pair of free throws to tie the game, 75-75.

Faust also had a key play with about 1:37 remaining. George Washington lost control of the ball and it trickled into the backcourt, and Faust knocked it off a Colonials player and out of bounds.

Peters and Faust finished with 11 and seven points, respectively, while forward Jake Layman (13 points) and Smotrycz (11 points) also finished in double figures.

2) DEZ OFF THE BALL

With guard Varun Ram making his first career start, coach Mark Turgeon wanted to free up Wells to play off the ball on the wing, where he feels the most comfortable and is the most effective.

The results were positive. Wells scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and generally appeared like the scorer the Terps need him to be to be successful. He scored seven points in the first half and nine more in the second half. He even took rebounds coast-to-coast for layups a few times.

Wells’ play wasn’t complemented by the Terps’ outside shooting, however. When Wells drives, it opens up looks on the perimeter for the Terps’ shooters, but their shots weren’t falling Sunday. The Terps shot 5-of-19 from three-point range. Layman and Smotrycz were a combined 3-of-10, while Faust was 1-of-5.

While moving Wells off the ball had good results for the Terps, the rest of the offense needs to step up to maximize his effectiveness.

3) ROLE PLAYERS

Entering Sunday, forward Jonathan Graham played 19 minutes this year with a season-high of seven against Abilene Christian. In the loss to George Washington, Graham played 15 minutes. While he finished with five points and took more free throws than field goals, the Penn State transfer grabbed five rebounds and was physical presence inside. Graham played with a fire and got tangled up with Colonials players a few times, providing a boost not seen at times this season.

Ram scored three points in 11 minutes. He picked up two fouls and had one turnover in the first 90 seconds of the game before heading to the bench. He played only three minutes in the first half.

But in eight second-half minutes, Ram displayed some of the skills that led Turgeon to call him the most complete point guard on the team. Ram didn’t turn the ball over or commit a foul and had one steal. He shot 1-of-2, and his 3-pointer with 4:54 remaining helped ignite the Terps’ late-game run.

As the Terps still try to replace guard Seth Allen, Ram’s second-half play, coupled with Peters’ down the stretch, should provide some confidence moving forward.