Nick Faust drives against a Northern Iowa defender in the Terps’ 80-66 win over the Panthers on Nov. 24, 2013 at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — The Terrapins men’s basketball team developed a habit of starting games slowly this season and the trend appeared likely to continue during a tilt with Northern Iowa in the Paradise Jam semifinals Sunday. Less than four minutes into the game, the Terps trailed the Panthers, 7-0.
But unlike in their first four games, the Terps found a jolt that keyed them out of an early funk courtesy of guard Nick Faust.
Faust drove to the rim, scored with contact and finished the free throw to cap a three-point play that cut the Panthers lead to 7-3. Then on the very next play, Faust picked off a Northern Iowa pass on the perimeter and slammed home a dunk on the other end.
“I was happy we got a spark and it really got us going as a team,” Faust said after the Terps’ 80-66 victory. “After that, guys had energy.”
That sequence started a 12-1 Terps run and was a significant part of Faust’s most complete game this season. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, six rebound and three steals.
“I don’t know if it’s his best game since he came to Maryland, but it’s close,” Turgeon said. “He made some shots, he made good decisions.”
Faust’s solid performance, which he called his best game of the season, came after a somewhat shaky start to his junior campaign. While he did lead the Terps with 17 points in their season-opening loss to Connecticut on Nov. 8, the Baltimore native drew criticism for his inefficiency in a 5-of-18 shooting performance against the Huskies.
Through the first four games, Faust was shooting 30.2 percent from the field.
On Sunday, though, Faust shot better than 50 percent for the first time all season and he got to the free-throw line several times, where he shot 4-of-5.
“Nick was really good,” Turgeon said. “He’s growing up, maturing.”
Without Faust’s key plays early in the game, perhaps the Terps would have dug a hole to deep to climb out of. Instead, Faust and the Terps jumped out to a lead in the first half and remained in control for much of what Turgeon confirmed as the team’s most complete performance of the season.
And Faust, the Terps’ longest-tenured rotational player, was at the heart of it.
“I told him after the game, that was the best game he’s every played,” forward Evan Smotrycz said. “I don’t even care that I haven’t seen all of his games, he just played his butt off. I think coach agreed with me, he gave us a real boost early and I think in the second half too.”
