The Terps' continued their winning ways at home on Thursday evening, beating No. 3 Purdue, 68-54, for the program's first win over a top-5 opponent since defeating No. 3 Iowa back on Jan. 28, 2016.

Maryland (18-8, 9-6) was once again led by senior guard Jahmir Young, who scored a game-high 20 points. He was one of three Terps in double-figure scoring along with senior wing Hakim Hart (13 points) and sophomore big man Julian Reese (10 points).

With the win, the Terps are now 8-0 at home in league play. They will next travel to Nebraska, where they will face the Huskers on Sunday.

Here are three takeaways from the Terps' win over Purdue.

Second half dominance

For the second time this season, Maryland trailed Purdue going into halftime. And for the second time this season, the Terps dominated the Boilermakers in the second half.

While the Terps were unable to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit in the first meeting between these two teams, Maryland trailed by just three points going into the locker room at home.

Maryland trailed by as many as eight points early in the second half Thursday night before a technical foul was called on Purdue guard Mason Gillis for swiping at the head of Julian Reese as they went up for a rebound and then arguing with an official after being called for a foul. Jahmir Young hit both technical free throws and Don Carey made a lay in sandwiched in between a couple of Reese layups to put the Terps up two and give them their first lead of the second half with 13:46 left to play. That 10-0 run completely swung the momentum back in the Terps favor and got an already vocal crowd even more into the game. That 10-0 run turned into a 29-4 run as the Terps built a double-digit lead that would hold up until the final buzzer.

While the Terps got back into the first meeting with suffocating second-half defense, it was the offense that carried the Terps in the second half Thursday night at home, as they shot 17 of 27 (63%) from the field, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.

The Terps also dominated Purdue on the boards during the second half of Thursday night's game, out-rebounding the Boilermakers 18-7.

In all, the Terps outscored Purdue a combined 77-49 in the second half of their two games this season.

Emilien the unsung hero

First, lets get a couple things out of the way. Jahmir Young was once again dominant. He led all scorers with a game-high 20 points and was an efficient 6 of 14 from the field and knocked down all seven of his free throw attempts. He also pulled down five rebounds, added four dimes and had two steals. Just how good is Young playing? He is currently ranked 10th in KenPom's Player of the Year standings. For anyone wondering, that would be national player of the year standings.

Second, Julian Reese once again did a brilliant job neutralizing Zach Edey. Yes, Edey scored 18 points, but the Terps held him to just eight rebounds. Reese forced an early turnover by Edey, matched his physicality throughout the game and frustrated the Purdue 7-footer. Reese finished with 10 points, but more importantly a game-high nine rebounds to go along with a steal and a block.

That leads us to Patrick Emilien, the Terps' unsung hero of the evening. The grad transfer came off the bench to finish fourth in scoring with nine points, while also adding three rebounds and a block. All of this in just 15 minutes of action. But it wasn't just the number of points Emilien scored, but how he scored them. He had the game's first made three-point basket (his first made three of the season) and also had a dunk in transition that really got the crowd going. His +/- of 14 was only surpassed by Ian Martinez who finished +17.

Willard gets signature win

Sure, the Terps had some nice early-season wins versus Miami and Illinois, and then the big home win versus Indiana, but Thursday night's game was on a completely different level. Purdue entered the game ranked No. 3 in the nation and is considered by most to be a true title contender. Throw in the fact that the Terps hadn't beaten a top-5 team since January of 2016 and this was the type of win the Terp faithful have been waiting a long time for.

But beyond being a top-5 win in front of a home sellout crowd, Thursday night's win was huge in the Big Ten standings. With the win, the Terps are now tied with Indiana for third place and hold the tie breaker over the Hoosiers. Northwestern is one game ahead of Maryland in second place but the Terps will host the Wildcats in their lone meeting this season.

The Terps also now have a signature win over a top-5 opponent that will likely pay big dividends come Selection Sunday.

But for first-year head coach Kevin Willard, this win stamps him as a giant killer, just like Gary Williams and Lefty Driesell before him. This year's team has far exceeded preseason expectations and when folks look back on Willard's tenure as the Terrapins head coach, there is a good chance they will look back at this game as the statement win that put the Terps back on the map.