Guard Roddy Peters rises up to drain a quick jump shot to help the Terps maintain their lead as they defeated the Miami Hurricanes 74-71 on Jan. 29, 2014 at Comcast Center.

Roddy Peters appeared to acclimate to the college game pretty quickly. The Terrapins men’s basketball freshman guard was forced to play plenty of minutes with point guard Seth Allen sidelined for the first 12 games, and Peters handled himself well.

In six of the season’s first 15 games, Peters had at least five assists. He played at least 15 minutes in each of the team’s first 17 games, and he earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors after posting a career-high 14 points in a victory at Boston College on Dec. 12.

But in recent weeks, Peters has struggled. Since Allen returned in late December, Peters has spent more time on the bench and hasn’t made much out of his minutes on the floor.

In the past four games Peters played 23 combined minutes, scoring just two points and committing seven turnovers.

“Roddy’s got to get his confidence back and help us,” coach Mark Turgeon said last week. “Hopefully he can do that. If not, it puts a little more pressure on Seth … and it shortens our bench.”

Peters’ shaky play cost the Terps in Monday’s 61-53 loss at No. 17 Virginia. With about 11 minutes left and the Terps trailing by two, the freshman sliced into the lane to take a contested layup.

Cavaliers forward Justin Anderson pinned the attempt against the backboard in a play that started a Virginia fast break and ended with guard Joe Harris draining a 3-pointer. That sequence sparked a game-defining 9-0 Virginia run, and the Terps never recovered.

“It wasn’t a very good decision to go in on that,” Turgeon said after the game. “I wish we wouldn’t have gone in on three guys like that.”

INJURIES

Terps forward Jake Layman (eye) and center Shaquille Cleare (shoulder) both suffered injuries Monday night that limited their playing time in the second half. Both players are not expected to miss any additional time.

Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon poked Layman in the eye while reaching for a loose ball in the first half. Layman returned to open the second half, but he didn’t play as much as usual down the stretch and didn’t finish the game.

“He was wide open and didn’t take a shot so I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you shoot it?’” Turgeon said. And he said, ‘Because I couldn’t see.’ So I had to take him out.”

Cleare injured his shoulder trying to a block a shot in the first half. He walked into the locker room after that, but returned to the floor and was eligible to play.

Though both injuries were minor, Turgeon said the brief absence of two rotation players may have made a difference down the stretch of in a narrow loss.

“We were really limited in numbers,” he said.

DUKE-UNC CANCELED, SYRACUSE SURVIVES

Had a storm not dumped significant amounts of snow on the East Coast, No. 8 Duke would have traveled to play North Carolina last night and then hosted the Terps three days later.

Instead, the harsh weather conditions forced the ACC to cancel Wednesday’s game in Chapel Hill, N.C. So the Terps will now face a Blue Devils team coming off a full week off rather than a two-day break.

Duke won each of its previous two games — against Wake Forest and Boston College — by at least 20 points and hasn’t been challenged since an overtime loss at No. 1 Syracuse on Feb. 1.

The Terps, meanwhile, will play at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday after a four-day layoff. The team beat Florida State at Comcast Center on Saturday before falling in Charlottesville, Va., on Monday night.

Looking a little bit more into the future, No. 1 Syracuse is one game closer to bringing an undefeated record to Comcast Center on Feb. 24. The Orange defeated No. 25 Pittsburgh, 58-56, last night on a half-court buzzer-beater from guard Tyler Ennis. Syracuse is now 24-0.