Maryland men’s basketball forward Jalen Smith let out a quick yelp and dropped the ball, then shook out his hand and tried to walk off the pain.

After pacing for a few seconds, the freshman got back into position for another pass, and strength and conditioning coach Kyle Tarp — armed with pads on both hands — went right back to thwacking him.

While Smith has upped his personal strength regimen recently, aiming to add muscle to his slim frame, the team also believes he’s improved his mental fortitude. And this week, to prepare for their road matchup with Nebraska, the Terps increased the physicality of their practices as a whole.

“We’re allowed to set illegal screens at practice and stuff like that,” forward Bruno Fernando said after Tuesday’s practice. “It makes it fun and a lot more competitive.”

Fernando motioned to Smith and Tarp on the far end of the floor.

“My man right there getting beat up right now,” Fernando said with a smirk. “Obviously that’s going to be a foul in the game, but it’s helping him, and he’s going to get tougher with the ball.”

[Read more: Jalen Smith’s extra strength work paid off in Maryland basketball’s win over Northwestern]

Smith is building strength — he’s now lifting four times a week with Tarp — but he still needs to add consistency to his game. The Baltimore native scored 14 points and had nine rebounds against Northwestern before managing just five points and four boards in 27 minutes at Wisconsin.

Still, Maryland saw particular promise in Smith’s outing against the Wildcats considering it started with a pair of missed layups, the second he punctuated with an expletive. It was the type of struggle that used to mean Smith would disappear for the rest of the night.

“In high school, he was terrible,” said guard Darryl Morsell, who played with Smith at Mount St. Joseph’s. “He would throw a fit if he was struggling. Stix has grown up a lot, it’s been good to see.”

Morsell attributes much of that growth to Fernando, who went through a similarly bumpy freshman season and offers wisdom to Smith.

“It’s normal. As a freshman, this is supposed to happen,” Fernando said. “Last year, [there was] a time I felt like I hit a wall … being young and not having yourself on every time. But he’s doing great. We’re proud of him.”

[Read more: With its big men in foul trouble, Maryland basketball couldn’t stop Wisconsin]

In the Terps’ first matchup with the Cornhuskers, Smith scored 12 points in the second half, including a game-winning floater in the final seconds. Turgeon hopes that performance will provide him confidence Wednesday.

“[Smith needs to] get himself more involved,” Turgeon said. “He’s trying to do that. Just play with confidence and toughness, that’s really what we need out of him.”

Nebraska leads the Big Ten in steals and turnover margin, and Maryland believes toughness is the key to neutralizing its pesky defense.

So after a late flight back from Wisconsin on Friday night, Turgeon gave his players the weekend off, then allowed plenty of physicality during their two days of practice. And he said they’ve responded well to the beating.

“We let our second-team just foul the heck out of us the last two days. Hopefully it will help us,” Turgeon said. “Our guys have to be strong with the basketball.”