Maryland coach Mark Turgeon preaches continuity amongst a deep roster that possesses plenty of individual talent, leading to a balanced offensive attack.
He probably wishes the fourth-ranked Terrapins would spread it across both halves, though.
Maryland hopes for a better start when it hosts Marshall on Sunday in its final nonconference tuneup.
The Terps (10-1) are the only team in the Big Ten with five players averaging in double figures, led by conference preseason player of the year Melo Trimble's 15.0 points per game. Maryland ranks third in the nation in field-goal percentage at 53.5, and of the nine players who have seen action in every game, only two are shooting worse than 50 percent.
One is forward Jake Layman (48.8), but he went 7 of 11 from the floor and finished with a season-high 19 points as Maryland beat Princeton 82-61 last Saturday in its most recent contest.
Jaylen Brantley (14 points), Robert Carter (12), Rasheed Sulaimon and Diamond Stone (11 apiece) also scored in double figures. Trimble finished with seven but added 10 assists for the Terps, who shot 56.1 percent.
Robert Carter hit 5 of 8 from the field and ranks among the Big Ten shooting leaders at 61.4 percent. The Georgia Tech transfer, who sat out last season, hit 45.6 percent in his two years with the Yellow Jackets.
The Terps also tied their season high with 12 3-pointers and have hit 22 of 46 from long range over their last two.
''That's what's special about this team: On any given night, someone can come up big for us,'' said Layman, who scored 15 points in his previous two combined. ''I guess it was my night.''
Maryland's only issue lately has been its first-half struggles. It led by only six at halftime over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 12 before pulling away for a 21-point win, then took just a four-point edge to the locker room against Princeton.
The Terps hit 19 of 29 from the field in the final 20 minutes to run away from the Tigers.
''The second half, we were about as good as we can be,'' Turgeon said. ''The thing that was most important was that our guys were unselfish. They were playing together and relying on each other.''
Starting better would certainly be beneficial with the competition level increasing in Big Ten play, which begins Wednesday against Penn State. First, Maryland will try to make easy work of Marshall (4-8), which has played better since dropping its first six.
The Thundering Herd had won four of five before falling 85-81 to Grand Canyon on Tuesday in the Global Sports Classic championship game in Las Vegas. Austin Loop scored 20 points, while James Kelly and Stevie Browning added 17 apiece.
Loop hit 6 of 10 from 3-point range and ranks third in Conference USA at 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. Kelly, a Miami transfer who averages a team-best 17.8 points, scored a career-high 38 in a win over Wyoming the previous day.
Marshall averaged 69.0 points and shot 37.9 percent over its first five games but is since averaging 84.7 points and shooting 47.1 percent. It has been weak defensively all season, though, and rank among the worst in the country in points allowed at 83.3 per game.
This will be the first meeting between the schools since Maryland's victory in 1980.
The Terps have won 20 consecutive home games.
