Maryland basketball's Jake Layman soars in win over Mount St. Mary's

In a very balanced offensive performance from Maryland, Jake Layman led the way with 16 points in an 80-56 victory over Mount St. Mary's Friday night at Xfinity Center.

The 6'9 wing looked as comfortable as ever playing his more natural position – small forward. He has a myriad of teammates to relieve him of his role in the post.

"Having guys like Diamond [Stone], [Michal Cekovsky] and Damonte [Dodd], who all have improved over the summer on post offense, I've been getting a lot more open shots than I have in the past," Layman said.

It isn't just the improved bigs that help free Layman, its the talented guard play that surrounds him as well.

"Since we have a post presence and a lot of teams are going to key on me, Rasheed [Sulaimon] and Jared [Nickens], I think Jake will get a lot of wide open shots, because we can drive to the rim and kick it out," said preseason Big Ten player of the year Melo Trimble.

His openness was apparent. Layman found room for ten shots, sinking seven of them. His scoring was highlighted by a pair of made threes and two dunks, one off a near-half court alley-oop pass from Jaylen Brantley.

Layman has developed like few future NBA draft picks have, moving up from a rotation player, to a role player to a starter and now one of the stars of the No. 3 ranked team in the country. But like the team's balanced attack, it doesn't place its leadership needs on one players' shoulders.

"I think me and Robert [Carter] are the leaders on this team, Rasheed [Sulaimon] too because we all have experience," said Layman. "It's good to have that."

The longest tenured Terrapin didn't just lead by scoring, but also with his defense. He had a pair of blocks and steals and was a contributor in holding the Mountaineers to just 31.1 percent shooting from the field.

The Terrapins will look to Layman to help guide the Terrapins to another victory in College Park Tuesday night as the Terps play one of the toughest teams on their non-conference schedule, the Georgetown Hoyas.