Midway through the first half of Maryland men’s basketball’s matchup with Rutgers, forward Bruno Fernando thrashed to free himself from guard Montez Mathis, then immediately stared him down as he fell to the floor.

The 6-foot-10 Fernando took offense to the 6-foot-4 Mathis’ attempt to hook his arm and drag him to the ground. Forward Jalen Smith ran over to ensure Fernando didn’t do anything he’d regret, and the referees went to the monitor, eventually issuing Mathis a foul for the futile tug.

Fernando drained the free throws, giving Maryland its biggest lead to that point. The gap only grew from there.

Throughout an ugly first half at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, the Scarlet Knights tried to drag the Terps down to their abysmal level, but Fernando’s side refused to go down. After a slow start, Maryland found its footing on offense and continued to shut down the conference’s lowest-scoring team in a 77-63 rout on Saturday.

“We knew we were going to get Rutgers’ best shot, especially early,” Turgeon said. “They had time to get ready for us. And they played great.”

The Scarlet Knights hadn’t played in a week but still couldn’t gameplan an answer for Fernando and Smith, who combined for 26 points and 15 boards despite spending plenty of time on the bench in the blowout.

Fernando picked up a foul in the first two minutes and left the floor. The Terps were trailing by five by the time he returned. Maryland (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) matched Rutgers’ offensive futility by opening the game 2-for-13, giving the Scarlet Knights a 13-7 edge at the 10-minute mark.

But the Terps snapped out of it and Rutgers (7-6, 0-3) couldn’t, leading to a dominant 33-6 run to close the first half.

“We started making shots,” Turgeon said, “we got to the foul line and our defense was terrific.”

Turgeon said early substitutions of Fernando and guard Anthony Cowan were designed to help his team’s depth develop, after spending most of the nonconference slate using a six-man rotation.

The early results were underwhelming, with forward Ivan Bender having two shots blocked in the first six minutes, but late in the period and after halftime, some of the bench pieces showed promise. Guard Serrel Smith had 11 points, and forward Ricky Lindo had three points and six rebounds.

Rutgers shot 25.9 percent before halftime, and a late eight-point burst from Serrel Smith helped the Terps to a 40-19 lead at the intermission.

That advantage was never threatened. Even with the Scarlet Knights coming out of the intermission on a 6-0 run and shooting 45.7 percent in the second half, they didn’t come closer than 14 points. Turgeon said the Terps “played a little bit like a younger team” after halftime, but made shots when it mattered.

“We missed a lot of open ones, and we made some big ones,” Turgeon said. “So instead of getting down to 12 or 10 or nine, we were able to keep it 15 to 18 or whatever.”

The big men helped make up for the team’s mediocre long-range shooting, giving the Terps reliable production down low. They were such a problem down low for Eugene Omoruyi, Rutgers leading scorer and rebounder, that he fouled out despite playing just 18 minutes.

Fernando had 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks, while Jalen Smith led the way with a team-high 16 points. Cowan scored his customary 15 points, and guard Eric Ayala chipped in 11.On a night when guard Geo Baker posted three points on 1-for-10 shooting, that kind of balanced production was plenty to put away Rutgers.

Turgeon’s squad now enters a grueling five-game stretch that includes tilts against No. 14 Ohio State and No. 8 Michigan State, as well as matchups with Minnesota, No. 21 Indiana and No. 22 Wisconsin, three teams Maryland will need to beat out to separate itself in one of the deepest conferences in the nation.

“We’re all just getting more confident,” Turgeon said. “Pretty amazing what these young guys are doing, to be honest with you.”