NEW YORK — Selton Miguel’s low point came nearly a month ago to the day. He took only three shots and went scoreless in Maryland men’s basketball’s four-point win over Villanova.
During Miguel’s self-admitted “bad start,” the South Florida transfer said he spoke extensively with Kevin Willard. The coach told him to be more aggressive, while Miguel said he just needed to “be me.”
Since the Villanova game, Miguel has scored double-digit points in every contest and is Maryland’s second-leading scorer. His 24-point performance against Syracuse on Saturday at the Barclays Center helped the Terps manhandle the Orange, 87-60, in their penultimate nonconference game.
“In the last two weeks, Selton’s been on fire. I just knew I needed to find him,” said junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who had a career-high 11 assists.
Miguel poured in a then-season high 24 points on 10 made field goals Tuesday against Saint Francis. On Saturday, he scored 13 of Maryland’s first 26 points.
He made a career-high six 3-pointers — Miguel couldn’t help but shrug as he trotted down the floor after his sixth make that extended Maryland’s lead to 34.
It wasn’t just Miguel who produced outlier numbers. Gillespie collected his first career double-double with 17 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.
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The duo linked up late in the first half for a highlight play. Gillespie dished a behind-the-back feed to Miguel for a 3-pointer, his fourth assist, to give Maryland a 15-point lead.
“I think he’s really starting to figure out, like, he’s got Rodney [Rice] and Selton,” Willard said. “If you get in the lane and you find one of those two guys, more than likely you’re getting an assist. I think you’re seeing the evolution of a point guard.”
Saturday marked the Terps’ last high-major nonconference game of the season. Marquette and Villanova were their two other Power Four foes. Syracuse was ranked outside of KenPom’s top-100 entering play and was 0-5 against fellow high-majors.
Junior guard JJ Starling, who averaged 20 points and led the Orange’s offense through the first six games, hasn’t played since Nov. 27 due to a broken hand.
Without Starling, Syracuse’s only reliable ballhandler was senior guard Jaquan Carlos. Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said the Terps got the ball out of his hands and forced its other players to initiate offense.
“Sometimes our pressure is not about turnovers. Sometimes it’s just about making teams really work,” Willard said. “And I give Carlos a lot of credit. He’s the only guard they really have right now. So just make him work, make him work, get them out of rhythm. And I thought that’s kind of what we did a great job [of].”
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Syracuse had the same number of turnovers as points (6) at the first media timeout nearly eight minutes in. Maryland took an early six-point lead but made just four of its first 13 shot attempts.
The offensive lull didn’t last long.
The Terps ended the half on a 10-0 run and held a 43-17 advantage. They have more 10-0 runs through 12 games than they did all of last season, a trend Willard attributed to Maryland hitting more shots and being able to set up its press defense.
Maryland held the Orange to their lowest point total of the season, while the Terps shot 44 percent on 3-pointers and had 26 assists to 13 turnovers. Syracuse coughed the ball up 21 times and allowed 25 points off turnovers.
Maryland’s performance was especially impressive considering the struggles from its two big men. Julian Reese and Derik Queen combined to shoot 10-for-25 and had four of the Terps’ eight turnovers.
Gillespie and Miguel picked up the slack, while Maryland’s suffocating defense powered it to its ninth win of 25 points or more.
