For the Maryland men?s basketball team, it comes down to one number: 65.
When the Terrpins don?t allow more points than that, they are 5-1, but when the opposition surpasses that number, Maryland is 1-4.
Maryland, which averages 71.9 points, gives itself very little margin for error, as three of its losses are by nine points or fewer.
“You can always find a way around a weakness,” Maryland head coach Gary Williams said. “If you are a bad shooting team and you play really good defense, break a lot of balls loose, hit the glass, get a lot of second shots, you can make up for, to a point, not being a good shooting team.”
The Terrapins (6-5) hope to end a two-game losing slide by defeating American (6-5 overall), where Williams coached from 1978-82, today in a non-conference game at Comcast Center at 4.
Today?s game against the Eagles, whom Maryland has defeated 14 straight times, provides the first of five tune-ups before Maryland resumes Atlantic Coast Conference play at Virginia Tech on Jan. 12. Maryland opened its conference season with an 81-78 loss to Boston College on Dec. 9.
Maryland should be tested by American, which allows just 60.2 points per game. The Terrapins also haven?t played a game since a Dec. 12 loss to Ohio, and a normally raucous Comcast Center could be quieter since students are away on winter break.
“We?ve played games like that this year, when there haven?t been a lot of people there,” Williams said. “You tell your team, ?It?s about us.? You shouldn?t be a team that just plays well when the place is crazy. You?re going to have to go on the road and play without the crowd being with us. You have to learn how to do that.”
