The Terps came within a possession of defeating No. 3 Purdue on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Boilermakers by a final score of 58-55.

Maryland (12-7, 3-5) was led by sophomore forward Julian Reese, who finished with a team-high 19 points. He was one of three Terps in double-figure scoring along with Hakim Hart (11 points) and Jahmir Young (10 points).

With the loss, the Terps have now dropped five straight on the road in league play. They will next face Wisconsin at home on Wednesday.

Here are three takeaways from the Terps' loss to Purdue.

Terps defense suffocates Purdue in 2nd half

The first half was one to forget if you are a Maryland fan. The Terps allowed Purdue to shoot 50 percent from the field as they built a 14-point lead at the break.

But coming out of the intermission, the Terps seemed to be playing with renewed purpose and focus, opening the second half on a 7-0 run to cut the halftime deficit in half less than two minutes in.

The Terps would go on to hold the Boilermakers to 7 of 26 (26.9%) shooting from the field in the second half, including going 0 for 6 from beyond the arc. They were able to cut the lead down to three with a Julian Reese lay in with 7:02 left to play and the defensive effort got even more suffocating from there, as the Terps didn't allow Purdue to make a field goal over the final 5:42 of play. Unfortunately Maryland was unable to hit a field goal themselves down the final stretch or they likely would have been flying home with a win.

Maryland also got back to forcing turnovers, 15 by Purdue to be exact, scoring 10 points off those turnovers. They finished with seven steals and nine fast break points. The 58 total points by Purdue were a season low. It was the kind of defensive effort that helped the Terps get out to an 8-0 start to the season and if they can keep it up should help them string some more wins together down the stretch.

Reese shows he's ready to take the next step

This season has had its ups and downs for Maryland sophomore forward Julian Reese. After scoring a career-high 24 points versus Coppin State, Reese struggled some, hurting his shoulder in the first half versus UCLA and missing a game while getting back to full health.

Reese's play has picked up over the past four games, scoring in double figures in three of those contests. But the real coming out party was Sunday afternoon versus Zach Edey and Purdue. Reese scored 19 points, a new career-high in Big Ten play, while going toe to toe with the frontrunner for national player of the year.

With Reese consistently scoring in double figures, it takes a lot of pressure off of Maryland's guards. It also frees others up for more open looks as teams have to key on him when he touches the ball in the paint. While scoring 19 points against teams like Binghamton and Western Carolina was a step in the right direction for Reese, scoring a team-high 19 points in league play versus the No. 3 team in the country and a likely consensus all-American is something completely different and hopefully shows that he has truly arrived.

Terps show fight on the road

Good chance many of you were thinking it. With Purdue on a 7-0 run to take a 13-point lead less than eight minutes into the game, you saw visions of Maryland's New Year's Day loss at Michigan dancing in your heads. Then Hakim Hart hit a jumper to stop the run and everyone took a deep sigh of relief. Still, the Boilermakers led by as many as 16 in the first half and by 14 at the break.

Junior guard Ian Martinez came off the bench to give the Terps a spark, scoring five straight points in the opening half for Maryland before Reese took over down the final stretch of the first half.

While Martinez and Reese did their best to keep Maryland within striking distance, the Terps regrouped in the locker room and came out with the kind of defensive intensity and focus fans have rarely seen on the road. The officials did the Terps no favors playing on the road versus the No. 3 team in the land, but Maryland players remained unfazed for the most part, continuing to play hard, smart and focused and giving themselves a shot to win the game in the final seconds.

It also marked the second straight game Maryland has held an opponent to 58 points and it is the lowest total the Terps have allowed on the road this season. With their next three games at home and two of their next three road games at Minnesota and Nebraska, the Terps have a chance to really string some wins together if they can play with the same kind of defensive intensity they showed the past two games.