Terps’ chances unlikely but not out of question
When asked what he had learned during his first season as a college basketball player, Maryland guard Pe’Shon Howard smiled and shook his head.
“It’s a long season,” Howard said, elongating the “L” for emphasis.
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Long indeed.
When Howard hit a game-winning jump shot to beat the College of Charleston, it was Nov. 10. Four months later to the day, Maryland opens Thursday in the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C., hoping to make its season last a little longer.
| UP NEXT |
| No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 10 N.C. State |
| When » Thursday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum |
| TV » ESPN2 |
“Everyone’s freshman year, there are lots of ups and downs,” Howard said. “We all hit the freshman wall at one point, but we all did a good job pushing through.”
Now it’s up to the Terrapins to do the same thing. Seeded seventh in the tournament, they have a rugged draw. If Maryland gets past No. 10 N.C. State (15-15), No. 2 Duke (27-4) awaits Friday in the quarterfinals. No team has ever taken the scenic route — four wins — en route to the ACC championship.
“I think it’s a great opportunity because nobody’s ever done it before,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said on Tuesday before the Terps departed for Greensboro, N.C. “I guess it’s hard if nobody’s ever done it.”
Also playing Thursday with the same one-and-done mentality are No. 6 Virginia Tech (19-10), which plays No. 11 Georgia Tech (13-17), and No. 8 Virginia (16-14), which faces No. 9 Miami (18-13). The Hokies probably need to win a game, perhaps two, to secure an NCAA at-large bid. Nothing less than a title will suffice for Virginia.
With a win over Duke, Maryland would be back in the discussion.
The Terps entered the 2009 ACC tournament 18-12 overall after going 7-9 in the league. Wins over N.C. State and then eighth-ranked Wake Forest got Maryland into the NCAA tournament. But that was a banner year for the league as the Terps were the seventh ACC team that made the tournament.
Williams will count on junior Sean Mosley and seniors Dino Gregory, Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker to draw from their experience two years ago in the Georgia Dome.
“If you do have a positive experience, you do use that as a way of making it happen again,” Williams said.
Another positive Terps’ experience came in Greensboro Coliseum, the same building that hosts this weekend, in 2004. Maryland also entered that ACC tournament after going 7-9 in the league. Maryland won the event, taking down the Nos.?3, 2 and 1 seeds.
“Billy [Packer] had us written off,” Williams said. “But [tournament MVP] John Gilchrist had just a tremendous three days there.”
Maryland might need a similar coming-of-age tournament from this year’s freshmen point guards, Terrell Stoglin and Howard.
“A lot of teams that had great beginnings are struggling at the finish and vice-versa,” Howard said. “You have to have the mindset that it’s a long road.”
The question for the Terps: Where will the road end?
