Carsen Edwards could hardly contain himself at the end of the first half Tuesday, giving fellow Purdue guard Ryan Cline a shove in the back and bouncing up and down as he galloped off the court.

Meanwhile, coach Mark Turgeon and the rest of the Maryland men’s basketball team slunk up the tunnel, just after a two-for-one sequence sparked by Edwards pushed the No. 12 Boilermakers to a 38-30 halftime lead.

For the first 20 minutes, Edwards turned the No. 24 Terps into unwitting participants in his electric 17-point showcase. He used numerous tough shots, a one-handed dunk and jeers from the Xfinity Center student section to fuel his brand of unapologetic swagger and demoralize the home team.

But when guard Darryl Morsell blocked two of Edwards’ shots in the first three minutes after the intermission, it set the tone for Edwards’ quiet second half, which allowed Maryland to erase Purdue’s advantage and pull away for a 70-56 win.

“He had 17 in the first half, so I took it personal,” Morsell said. “Not only me, but the entire team took it personal being down at halftime.”

[Read more: No. 24 Maryland men’s basketball storms back after halftime to beat No. 12 Purdue, 70-56]

Edwards’ volume shooting is the reason he was voted the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, and the reason he leads the conference in scoring. The 24 points he finished with Tuesday is right on his season average.

So no matter how strong Morsell felt his defense was, and no matter how long it had been since Edwards last made a basket, he had the same sense of dread each time Edwards’ scurrying would create enough space for him to receive a pass.

“No, I don’t want him [to shoot],” Morsell laughed. “Whenever he touches the ball, it’s a good chance that he has a score. I just tried my best to make it tough for him.”

The Baltimore native felt he had done that in the first half, too, but it didn’t matter. Edwards went 6-for-14 from the field before halftime, rising above Morsell and whatever other defender was in the area to drain shot after shot.

[Read more: Maryland basketball wants Anthony Cowan out of his slump and “back to being Anthony”]

After Turgeon urged his team at halftime to improve its body language, everything flipped. The Boilermakers scored 18 points in the final 20 minutes and just four in the closing 8:10, while Edwards didn’t convert a field goal after the 12-minute mark.

The explanation was simple, according to guard Eric Ayala.

“Darryl Morsell,” Ayala said. “He was working all night. Carsen made some tough shots; he’s going to do that. But Darryl gave him everything he had.”

That effort manifested itself with a pair of early blocks in the second half, including one sequence where Morsell was out of position after selling out to steal a pass and getting a fingertip on it, only to see the ball deflect into Edwards’ hands.

With Morsell suddenly positioned behind him, Edwards quickly rose for a three-point attempt, but the 6-foot-5 Morsell reached around the 6-foot-1 Edwards and swiped the ball from his hands before he could get the shot off.

“You can’t say enough about Darryl Morsell and Anthony Cowan [on defense],” Turgeon said. “Darryl has to understand that what he is doing for our team is just as important as Anthony scoring, or [forward Bruno Fernando] scoring, or Bruno’s rebounds. And I think he’s accepted that.”

Morsell’s specialty has always been his defense, but he’s seen his already modest point and shot total dip slightly between his freshman and sophomore year. The growth of Fernando, and the arrival of Ayala and forward Jalen Smith, mean the Terps rarely need Morsell to create on offense.

That allows him to focus on guarding the opponent’s best player. And Tuesday, the sophomore reveled in shutting down Edwards with perhaps the best defensive half of his career.

“I’ve just embraced it,” Morsell said. “I have to be a lockdown defender. … Y’all know what I have to do in order for this team to win.”