If there is a common thread running through half of Maryland’s eight defeats this season, it occurs in the first few minutes of the game.
Shots are missed. Passes are stolen, or simply thrown away. The opponent’s early lead mushrooms, often into double digits right before or immediately after the first media timeout.
And the Terps are left to play catchup the rest of the game.
While Maryland has erased big early deficits to win — the largest being a 14-point hole against Indiana on Jan. 11 after the Hoosiers scored the first nine points of the game — many of the sluggish starts have quickly doomed coach Mark Turgeon’s team.