Purdue survived a scare Sunday at home against Maryland, rallying from 12 down in the final 11 minutes to beat Maryland 62-61.

Our post-game analysis and Wrap Video.

This game was a case study in Sasha Stefanovic's profound importance to Purdue.

The Boilermakers clearly still derive their energy from their scoring more than is probably optimal — and this remains an area Purdue has to figure out — and when Stefanovic saw some shots fall in the second half, that's when things changed in the home team's favor. That was no coincidence.

In addition to Purdue's performance, the mood changed in Mackey Arena when Stefanovic made the first of his two threes during that game-turning stretch.

But Stefanovic is also Purdue's best team defender and a leader and when the game turned, both were part of it.

Stefanovic contributed heavily to a pair of Maryland turnovers in pick-and-roll, interfering with the roll man enough to cause his giveaways.

Defensively, doing what you're supposed to do and trying hard will take a team a long way, and those two possessions were the epitome of both, and those defensive stops were precisely the piece Purdue had been missing before that made runs difficult to come by.

Purdue's pick-and-roll defense the past few games has left much to be desired

Stefanovic led the solution when it mattered the most.

Each of Purdue's seniors came up big when their team needed rescuing, but Stefanovic's exploits were especially multi-layered in their importance.