Penn State (7-8, 4-7 Big Ten) trailed by as much as nine points in the first half against Maryland (10-9, 4-8) Feb. 5, but the Nittany Lions clawed their way back to tie the game before halftime and kept the momentum going after the break to secure a 55-50 win in University Park over the Terps.

“We battled,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said. “Defensively we were terrific. We held them to 55 points in their building. They’re a great offensive team, hard to guard. So we really took on a challenge there. It really came down to 16 turnovers and we couldn’t get a rebound in the second half. And a lot of it is because of our size. And I’ll have to watch the film but we were trying to get the kid boxed out but we just couldn’t box him out...But our defense was terrific and gave us a chance to win.”

“I think we did a great job defensively tonight,” Terps senior Darryl Morsell said. “They typically score 70 or 80 in this building and I think we held them to 55. We just didn’t execute offensively or make the shots we needed to make to win.”

Maryland’s offensive woes included five missed layups in the second half, which proved to be particularly detrimental in a game with the Nittany Lions that was close throughout.

“Those were easy opportunities that I felt like we should have scored on,” Morsell said. “So I was upset. But I still have trust in my guys. We made the right plays on those plays. We just didn’t execute.”

The only Terp that had a good offensive showing was junior guard Eric Ayala, who finished with a game-high 23 points. Ayala shot 6-for-11 from the field and 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

“Eric was our go-to guy,” Turgeon said. “Eric was our only guy that we felt could really make some shots and we were trying to play through him. So we’re drawing plays up in the sand over there on the board just to figure out ways to get shots, get the ball where we can get it.”

Penn State used a more balanced scoring attack to do its damage with five players scoring six points or more. But the biggest difference-maker in the game for the Nittany Lions was senior center John Harrar who scored nine points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds.

Harrar’s dominant performance in the paint helped Penn State earn a plus-11 margin on the boards Friday night.

“They’re a really good defensive team,” Turgeon said. “Their steals are what they do. They’re really fast. They’re athletic and their five-man can really move and really guard. He’s terrific.”

While the matchup between the Terps and Nittany Lions remained a one- or two-possession game for most of the second half, it was Penn State that made the big shots in the end, including a three by Myles Dread that gave the home a seven-point lead — its largest of the game — with 4:34 remaining.

“We just need to make a couple and it’s a different — they made a couple. They made a couple back-to-back and it changed the game,” Turgeon said.

Maryland will go back to the drawing board for its next outing against No. 7 Ohio State in College Park on Feb. 8.