Terps hope to avenge 62-53 loss to Clemson On the 25th anniversary of Bobby Knight’s infamous chair heave, the subject was Maryland coach Gary Williams’ own tempestuous behavior, his jacket toss late in the Terps’ 76-74 victory over Georgia Tech.
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“I’ve never seen him throw his jacket on the court,” said Maryland sophomore Sean Mosley. “I think at that time we went on a little run. [It] was one of the things that I think brought the energy from the team.”
So was Williams’ Armani toss calculated?
“No, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time,” quipped Williams.
When Tech guard Glen Rice, Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound, leading to a 3-pointer by D’Andre Bell that gave the Yellow Jackets their biggest lead, 65-60, Williams made his sartorial statement.
“It was just frustration on my part,” said Williams. “I think that was the third or fourth time I’ve taken my jacket off in 21 years.”
After Williams’ jacket spike and his red-faced, 30-second timeout, junior Cliff Tucker hit a 3-pointer as the Terps scored six of the next seven points to tie it.
Remaining composed has not been a challenge this season for Williams. Maryland (19-7, 9-3) has likely locked up an NCAA berth and is still in the running for the ACC regular-season title. The Terps have a chance to avenge one of their conference defeats when they play visiting Clemson (19-7, 7-5) on Wednesday.
The Tigers have beaten the Terps three straight, but winning tonight at Comcast will be a feat. Maryland has won three straight and is undefeated at home in the ACC.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” said Maryland freshman Jordan Williams of the Terps’ home court edge. “I think it intimidates other teams a little bit too. So they know it’s going to be tough to play and the crowd will be on our side.”
In Clemson’s 62-53 win on Jan. 31, the Tigers’ pressure defense forced Maryland into a season-high 26 turnovers and a season-low 34.6 percent shooting performance, doing it without one of their best players, junior guard Demontez Stitt, who returned from a knee injury two weeks ago.
Derailing the Maryland offense isn’t easy. In ACC games, the Terps lead the conference in virtually every offensive category, including scoring (75.2 ppg), assists (16.0 pg), assist/turnover ratio (1.3 to 1), field goal shooting (45.8 percent), and 3-point field goal shooting (41.8 percent). They also lead in field goal shooting defense (38.7 percent).
So how has Maryland managed to stay out of the rankings?
“I vote in the USA Today coaches poll. I voted us 50th that’s why we’re not ranked,” joked Williams, who then turned serious.
“We should be ranked,” said Williams. “It’s tough to break opinions. You’ll see two groups in the top 12. They can have five or six losses sometimes and still stay in the top 12.”
