Maryland halted a three-game losing skid Thursday night, beating Saint Peter's in blowout fashion by a score of 75-45.

Senior wing Hakim Hart led three Terps in double-figure scoring with a game-high 20 points.

The Terps will next host UMBC on Dec. 29 as the final tuneup before they get into the heart of Big Ten play.

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

Hart at his peak versus Peacocks

Hakim Hart sure loves playing the Peacocks. Coming into Thursday night's game, his career high in points came during his sophomore season in the last meeting between the Terps and Saint Peter's, when Hart scored 32 points, going 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

While Hart didn't go off like he did in the last meeting, he still scored a game-high 20 points as the Terps cruised to victory. Coming into this season, Hart had scored 20 or more points just twice, while Thursday night's performance marked the second 20-plus point performance of the year for the senior. With a short rotation, Hart is going to be relied upon heavily to score the rest of the season, so it was good to see him put up some big numbers.

Defense reigns supreme

While Saint Peter's didn't exactly come into this game as an offensive juggernaut, the Terps put the clamps on the Peacocks from the opening tip, holding them to 30 percent shooting from the field for the game and forcing them into 17 turnovers, which they turned into 24 points.

Maryland's defensive performance was made even more impressive by the fact that they were without starting center Julian Reese, who was in street clothes as he comes back from a shoulder injury suffered in the first half of the UCLA game. Patrick Emilien got the starting nod in Reese's place and filled in admirably, scoring 10 points and adding four boards in 26 minutes of action. With Reese out of the lineup it also meant extended minutes for Canadian freshman Caleb Swanton-Rodger, who hauled in a couple of rebounds but did not score in 10 minutes of action.

Despite the impressive defense performance, holding their opponent under 50 points for the second time this season, one area the Terps did struggle was in the rebounding department, as the Peacocks were plus eight on the boards. But that should improve with the return of Reese, their leading rebounder.

Maryland gets its mojo back

The Terps needed a game where they could go into the final media timeout without having to worry about the outcome and they got just that versus Saint Peter's. After three straight losses that included an abysmal shooting display in Brooklyn and a blowout loss versus UCLA, the Terps put the Peacocks away early and seemed to gain confidence as the game went on. And while the Terps weren't on fire from beyond the arc, they managed to shoot over 53 percent from the field. It was the first time they shot better than 50 percent since their win at Louisville.

The Terps will get to build some momentum once again Dec. 29 versus UMBC before heading to Ann Arbor where they will face Michigan on New Years Day.