It was a collapse Maryland coach Gary Williams said would haunt him for some time.
With 11 minutes remaining, Maryland led by 20.
With 5:04 remaining, Maryland led by 11.
With 45 seconds remaining, the game was tied.
With two seconds remaining, it was decided.
That?s when Clemson?s Terrence Oglesby made a three-pointer to give his team a 73-70 victory, capping a monumental Maryland meltdown in front of 17,950 that packed Comcast Center.
By the final buzzer, Maryland?s players were left wondering if they could possibly revive their dwindling NCAA Tournament hopes with a regular season-ending win at Virginia (13-13, 3-10) on Sunday night at 7:30.
“I doubt it,” sophomore guard Eric Hayes said. “I don?t know how many teams are going in for the ACC. This was a big game for us. I?m just sad that we let it slip away.”
With just one win against a team in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) Top 50 ? an 82-80 win at top-ranked North Carolina on Jan. 19 ? the Terrapins? game against Clemson (20-7, 9-5) was not only a battle for third place in the ACC, but an opportunity for Maryland (18-12 overall, 8-7 ACC) to build its NCAA Tournament resume.
The Terrapins? game against Virginia was supposed to be the exclamation point. Now it?s a question mark.
“It?s not going to be enough,” sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez said of the impact a win at Virginia would make. “If we win again in the ACC Tournament, I think it?s going to be enough.”
Maryland dropped to fifth in the conference between Virginia Tech (17-11, 8-6) and Miami (20-8, 7-7) ? two teams the Terrapins combined to go 0-3 againstthis season. In seven games against the top-six in the conference, Maryland is 1-6.
But the next hurdle for Maryland, which has an RPI of 64, is how the team will maintain focus during the seven days before it plays in Charlottesville.
Even James Gist, the team?s only player to have spent the past four years in College Park, is unsure how the Terrapins will respond.
“It is hard to take anything positive away from this,” Gist said. I?m sure as the week goes on I will find something to tell the team, something that we can build off of. We need to take this and built off this. We can?t give games away, especially now.”
What really may come back to haunt Maryland, though, is its three-game losing streak in late December. The Terrapins? 113 non-conference RPI is second-worst in the ACC, thanks in part to home losses to Ohio and American. But Maryland rebounded from those losses, winning its next four games and 10 of 12.
But how it recovers from the loss to Clemson will define the Terrapins? season.
“It?s really tough to recover, especially given the situation tonight,” Williams said. “Only teams with strong character recover from that. It can be devastating, no doubt about it.”
