On Tuesday, Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon said he could be happy with a 22-point game from Purdue guard Carsen Edwards, as long as it took him a lot of shots to get there.

Darryl Morsell and Anthony Cowan limited Edwards to 20 points on 15 shots, but it still wasn’t enough to avoid a 62-60 loss in Mackey Arena.

After a back-and-forth start to the second half, Edwards led a sequence that put the Boilermakers on top for good, and Turgeon felt that the effort it took to prevent Edwards from having an even better performance hampered the Terps’ offense down the stretch.

“Even if he’s not scoring, there’s always at least three guys on their defense looking at him,” Purdue forward Matt Haarms said. “He has such a gravity to him on offense. … Guys have to pay attention to him.”

[Read more: No. 23 Maryland men’s basketball falters down the stretch in 62-60 loss to Purdue]

Purdue hadn’t led by more than one possession until Edwards took over after the under-8 media timeout in the second half.

First, the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year drained his third 3-pointer of the game. Then, he pushed in transition after a steal and dished a pretty wraparound assist to Aaron Wheeler. Then, Edwards engineered and took advantage of a cut from forward Matt Haarms that left Bruno Fernando in the dust, creating an easy dunk and Edwards’ third assist of the game.

[Read more: No. 23 Maryland men’s basketball faces “a whole other animal” on the road against Purdue]

Suddenly, the Boilermakers had a five-point lead, which Maryland never recovered from.

“[Edwards] didn’t have his best game tonight,” Turgeon said, “but he made some big plays.”

For nearly all game Thursday, it was Morsell who was caught in Edwards’ orbit as he darted around screens on the perimeter. Midway through the first half, Edwards produced a six-point flurry with Cowan guarding him, but by and large Maryland avoided moments like those.

Turgeon’s 22-point benchmark may have seemed modest, but with Edwards entering the game averaging 24.4 points on 42.9 percent shooting, it was hardly a given.

“Edwards is a really talented player,” Morsell said. “It was a long night. Me and Anthony, we had to run them off screens and stuff like that.”

Morsell said it was no excuse, but Turgeon theorized that those tough defensive possessions took a toll on his guards, leading to some fatigue that played a role in his team scoring just six points in the final seven minutes, meaning Edwards’ three-play sequence midway through the second half was enough for a game-winner.

And while Edwards had a relatively quiet night by his standards, his teammates stepped up. Turgeon pointed to contributions from some of Purdue’s supporting cast, such as Wheeler (15 points), Haarms (10) and Grady Eifert (seven), as being the difference Thursday.

“If he’s driving to the rim,” Haarms said, “you better believe there’s going to be three guys jumping. It makes it a whole lot easier for the rest of us.”