COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- As a former high school McDonald’s All-American, Maryland freshman forward Jalen “Stix” Smith came to College Park with a plethora of skills and characteristics that spoke to his potential as a basketball player. But recently none of Smith’s attributes have been on display more than his work ethic and resiliency.

In a 14-point loss to Michigan State Jan. 21, Smith was bullied down in the post by the Spartans’ size and overall physicality, leading to just six points and three rebounds for the 6-foot-10, 215-pound Baltimore native. Spending extra time in the gym and weight room since that game has helped Smith bounce back.

“My body is feeling great,” Smith said. “I’m getting a lot more lifts in than I would earlier in the season and I get a lot of recovery, and most of it comes from sleep. My body just feels good at this point right now.”

Smith followed up his disappointing performance in East Lansing with two solid games against Illinois (11 points, seven rebounds) and Northwestern (14 points, nine rebounds), but inconsistency struck again during Maryland’s 69-61 loss at Wisconsin Feb. 6.

Scoring just five points and collecting only four rebounds while turning the ball over three times against the Badgers, Smith knew he had to get back on track and do it quickly as Maryland works through the hardest stretch of its regular season schedule.

In his last two games, Smith has flipped a switch and shown that his hard work and extra lifts are leading to more consistency and a body that is better prepared for post play in the Big Ten. Smith has been Maryland’s leading scorer in each of the Terps’ last two outings, and after a dominant 18-point, 11-rebound, two-block showing in a 60-45 win at Nebraska Feb. 6, Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon let it be known just how much his team values Smith’s contributions.

“He’s important,” Turgeon said. “Our guys know it. [Smith] knows it. For us to be a really good basketball team down the stretch, Jalen is going to have to be good.”

Smith took Turgeon’s words to heart and parlayed his stellar performance against the Cornhuskers into another against No. 12 Purdue in Maryland’s 14-point victory over the Boilermakers Feb. 12. Only this time, Smith’s resiliency was on display from one half to another, rather than from one game to the next.

Scoring just two points in the first half with his team trailing by eight against the Boilermakers entering the locker room, Smith exploded after halftime. His 14 points in the second half led to a team-high 16 and also helped the Terps topple a top-15 opponent for the first time this season.

“Stix was as bad as he could be and he was as good as he could be,” Turgeon said following the win over Purdue.

Maturing physically was one leap Smith had to make from high school to college, but another part of Smith’s transition is learning to play the four more than the five, where he had been a fixture for Mount St. Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) for the past few years. But with sophomore center Bruno Fernando spending some time on the bench with foul trouble in the second half against the Boilermakers, Smith found himself back at center for some big minutes Tuesday night and used the opportunity to show how far he has come physically since the start of the year.

“He was terrific around the rim and defensively he was much better in the second half,” Turgeon said. “He was terrific and he was really hard to guard when I put him at the five. It got him going and then he was much tougher. I was really proud of how he stepped up.”

Purdue head coach Matt Painter also took notice of Smith’s second half surge. Citing how impressed he was by Maryland’s defense considering the Terps are the fifth youngest team in the country, Painter singled out Smith as the defensive spark that jump started his team’s run in the game’s final 20 minutes.

“These guys can guard, you know, [Jalen] Smith can guard,” Painter said. “Smith helped his team today. I don’t know how many points he had, but Smith helped his team win.”

Painter isn’t the only one to realize how valuable Smith is to the Terps. Smith’s coaches and teammates in College Park know Maryland is much more productive when he’s locked in and playing well like he was in the second half against Purdue.

“I tell Stix every day, ‘you are a key part of what we do,’” Terps freshman guard Eric Ayala said. “In the second half, he played tremendously and when he is playing well we are on a different level. He brings us a different dynamic from the inside outside and I appreciate Stix. I’ve got to stay on him.”

Extra lifts and work with his coaches in the post at practice have gone a long way for Smith so far this season, but it’s the recent encouragement from the Terps that perhaps have made the biggest impact on his growth as a college basketball player.

“They’re just making sure my confidence is still there,” Smith said. “It’s a long season. I’m going to have a lot of ups and downs. I’m a freshman, so I’m still learning. But it’s pretty much just about staying consistent.”