Maryland needs wins to keep its hopes alive
In their efforts to climb in the ACC, everything broke wrong for the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to their loss at North Carolina, all the teams closest to them in the standings — Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Boston College — won.
As a result of its lost weekend, Maryland (18-11, 7-7) is tied for sixth place in the conference with a BC squad that it lost to twice.
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The obvious conclusion? Maryland now needs some combination of wins in its final two regular season games and the ACC tournament to advance to the NCAAs. Four is the popular number around College Park. The quest begins Wednesday at Miami (17-12, 5-9).
The Hurricanes have had an unremarkable season with few highlights. Their best win came at home over West Virginia. Junior guard Malcolm Grant (15.1 ppg) leads the ACC with 44.1 percent marksmanship from 3-point range.
Sophomore Reggie Johnson (12.3 ppg, 9.4 rpg), the Hurricanes’ most intriguing player at 6-foot-10, 300 pounds, will battle Maryland sophomore Jordan Williams (17.1 ppg, 11.8 rpg).
| UP NEXT |
| Maryland at Miami |
| When » Wednesday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » BankUnited Center, Coral Gables, Fla. |
| TV/Radio » ESPNU/980 AM |
“He’s very mobile for a guy who weighs 300 pounds,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “He sets very good screens. He makes it very difficult to go over the top. With the shooters they have, you have to go over the screens.”
The Terrapins’ road map to the NCAA tournament is the 2008-09 season. Maryland had the same overall record at this point of that season on its way to a tie for seventh place in the ACC. Those Terps played their way into the NCAAs with victories over North Carolina State and No. 9 Wake Forest in the ACC tournament.
The difference that year, however, was that it was a banner year for the ACC. Maryland was the seventh team from the league to gain a berth. This year seventh place, and probably sixth place, won’t get it done.
As has been his preference during this precarious season on the bubble, Gary Williams dismissed any talk of what it would take to reach the NCAAs.
“We’re not in position to do that,” Williams said. “Our players understand the need to win.”
