Mark Turgeon got a bit choked up as he fielded questions in a crowded news conference at Comcast Center on Saturday night.

It was understandable. After all, his Terrapins men’s basketball team was barely 30 minutes removed from its 83-81 upset win over No. 2 Duke. It was easily the most significant victory in the second-year coach’s College Park tenure. He had a right to be emotional.

But it wasn’t the win over the hated Blue Devils that had him fighting back tears. It wasn’t the joy he felt seeing his beloved student section storm the court in celebration after the final buzzer sounded, either.

It was his family.

“It has been a hard week on my family, hard on my son last week. He had to leave the stands because the fans were so hard on his dad. So this is for them,” Turgeon said after the game. “I take a lot of pride in my coaching. I don’t do a lot of things well, but I like to think I can coach a little bit. And I haven’t done a very good job.”

It’s hard to fault fans for criticizing him a week ago. Turgeon’s squad had one of its most lackluster showings of the season, falling flat in an ugly 80-69 loss to Virginia. It was the type of performance the Terps couldn’t afford if they hoped to maintain any chance of securing an NCAA Tournament bid.

But Turgeon is right; he can coach. And that’s exactly what he did leading up to Saturday’s matchup with the Blue Devils. He worked his players particularly hard last week, putting them on the line for a combined 7,000 free throws and running them in practice until they were too sore to go anymore.

“I stripped guys of being captain this week,” Turgeon said. “I’m the captain.”

He took ownership of the team. And it worked. For one of the first times since ACC play began in early January, the Terps looked like the team Turgeon envisioned this season.

They shot 60 percent from the field and held Duke to less than 46 percent. They crushed the Blue Devils on the glass, outrebounding them, 40-20. And they took advantage of their opportunities from the charity stripe, making 73.5 percent of their free throws while attempting 13 more than their opponent.

They performed well as individuals, too. Only one player — guard Logan Aronhalt — shot worse than 50 percent from the field as the Terps tied their fifth-highest single-game scoring output of the season. Center Alex Len bounced back from a string of rough games to total a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds. Guard Seth Allen scored 16 points and made a slew of clutch plays down the stretch. And forward Dez Wells added a game-high seven assists to a balanced nine-point, seven-rebound night.

And the best part? They defeated the nation’s second-ranked team on a night where they were far from perfect. Forward Jake Layman finished with an efficient eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, but his boneheaded foul at the 16-second mark allowed Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon to tie the game with three free throws. Allen might have made some crucial baskets late in the game, but he turned the ball over a season-worst eight times. Overall, the Terps coughed up the ball 26 times, three worse than their previous season high.

Turgeon acknowledged the shortcomings after the game. He said the Terps weren’t extraordinary by any means; they played to their level. It’s one thing to keep up with Duke, he added, but it’s another thing entirely to beat them. On Saturday, his guys were just good enough to secure the win.

“That one was for Coach,” Allen said. “We know he wants it so much, and he told us for us to be successful, the players have to want it more than he does. Tonight, I felt it was that way or equal.”

On Saturday — for maybe the first time this season — Turgeon got what he wanted. His coaching should no longer be questioned, and his family shouldn’t have to endure fans’ criticism.

Yes, there have been times this season when it’s seemed Turgeon and his team haven’t been on the same page. But that’s part of a young group’s growing pains. Seven players in the Terps’ 10-man rotation are underclassmen and six are in their first season in College Park. It was clear the second-year coach was going to need time to get his team to match his expectations.

Turgeon has said all season the Terps have the pieces to be good; they just weren’t good yet.

Against Duke, they might have finally proven they are.

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