It's a big night on the football front - #Stefonukkah, dontchaknow - but there's some awful news on the way for basketball: point guard Pe'Shon Howard, who just returned from a broken foot in late December that kept him sidelined for the first ten games of the season, has suffered a torn ACL and will likely miss the rest of the season. The injury occurred in practice on Thursday.

This is a huge blow for a Maryland team that was just getting used to playing with Howard, the closest thing they have to a true point guard. The results were mixed and perhaps not as beneficial as some had hoped, but things will unquestionably get more difficult without having the option of giving him major minutes.

I assume Nick Faust, who manned the point at times before Howard's injury, will take Pe's spot in the starting lineup. Faust and Terrell Stoglin will likely share the lead guard duties, and I imagine Stoglin will probably play every minute Mark Turgeon can spare him.

While it does hurt, we should note that this isn't the end of the road for Maryland. While I think the Terrapins are objectively better with Howard, their resumé pre-Pe' looks a lot like post-Pe', and in fact you could make an argument that it's even better. Remember, they knocked off likely tournament-bound Notre Dame before Howard returned, and nearly defeated Illinois as well. I expect some of their losses will come by bigger margins than expected before, but so long as Stoglin continues his amazing form there's no reason more progress can't be made.

Many will be wondering if Maryland can redshirt Howard. While exceptions can always be made, I'd be surprised to see one happen here; he's already played in 14 games, well over the maximum one-third, and they've come past the halfway point of the season, as well. When Howard returns next year, it'll almost certainly be as a junior.

You have to feel for Howard. First he had the foot injury that sidelined him for months, and even after he returned he never really rounded into form, struggling from the field and recording low assist numbers. Against Clemson, his frustration seemed palpable. And now this.

Hopefully Howard can recover from this quickly and be ready to go next year, when the Terrapins will be gunning for the NCAA Tournament. They'll need his experience and depth. Until then, the backcourt onus will fall even more heavily on Stoglin.

Maryland basketball never makes it easy, but this time the heartache was worth it: the Terrapins nearly lost a 14-point second-half lead, but Terrell Stoglin scored 27 and Maryland grabbed their first road win of the season, defeating Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum 64-62.

Like many of the Terps' contests this year, It was a pretty nervy affair when it didn't have to be. The first half was inartful and turnover-filled, but Maryland was able to take four-point lead into the break and build on it with a great start to the second half. They led by 14 with only 11 minutes to play, and things appeared very nearly in the bag. Maryland then went the next six minutes scoring only five points, allowing Clemson to bounce back with a 22-10 run, partially thanks to their trademark pressure defense. Maryland shot only 4-9 from the line over the final 4:02, endangering their shrinking lead.

The ending sequence was particularly strange: Clemson took the inbound from the baseline down two with 1.7 seconds left, and threw a wild pass down court. Sean Mosley caught it with his foot on the baseline, which gave Clemson another opportunity. Andre Young nearly made good use of the second chance, but his last-second heave drew iron and fell harmlessly from the rim.

Continue reading this post »

Game tips at 7:00 on ESPNU. No kosher stream tonight that I know of, but as always I'm sure if you look in the right places you can find some streams of questionable legality, if that's your sort of thing.

Random, Baseless Prediction: There's another "why doesn't he play more?" performance from Mychal Parker. I'm feeling 5 points, a steal, three rebounds, and solid defense. The Mych bandwagon doubles afterwards.

Prediction: The real question here isn't "Will Maryland beat Clemson?" so much as it is "Has Maryland finally turned the corner?" Or, at least, that's the false choice with which I'll frame this section of the post. And my answer: not sure, but I think they have, so they gut out a close one. People start to talk about the NCAA Tournament again, perhaps foolishly.

Guessing game: Give me Terrell Stoglin's total of points plus made three pointers (21 points + 4 made threes = 25) with number of ill-advised, early-in-the-shot-clock three point attempts as the tiebreaker.

Maryland's game against North Carolina seemed to be another example of what Maryland fans have come to expect this season - a great effort, but often coming up just short in the end. But while the Terps were again on the short end of this game, several interesting things came out of this game. I was coving the game for another site a write for, DCSportsbox.com, and thus was at Turgeon's post game press conference. I've compiled some quotes from Turgeon below that I thought were interesting and worth mentioning and discussing.

"Lot of positives. It's that fine line. It's no fun going through that we're going through" said head coach Mark Turgeon. You can tell that Turgeon knows his team is getting better, but it must be frustrating to not see that translate into consistent wins.

One of the things I find particularly interesting is the dynamic between Turgeon and sophomore Terrell Stoglin. I think Turgeon knows and realizes how important Stoglin is to this team, but he's still frustrated by his play at times. And I think this comment at his press conference after the UNC game sums it up:

"I was disappointed in some of the things we did down the stretch." Later, when asked what Stoglin needs to do to be a better closer, Turgeon responded with "Just trust his teammates. The reason we were so good the first half, did you see our scoring? It was 8, 7, 7, 6, 5 - balanced scoring. That's the only way you're going to beat great teams."

I asked Turgeon about the transition defense Maryland used against UNC, which limited the Tar Heels to just five fastbreak points:

"I think it was a couple things. I think we really did a great job [defensively] and I thought they missed some open ones for us. But I've never in my coaching career sent three guys back when a shot goes up. We sent three guys back tonight and I thought our big guys did a great job of running back for the most part. [Kendall Marshall] is as good as I've ever seen. He's something else - 16 assists. He had six turnovers which is not his style. I like to think I can see things being a former point guard. He sees things coming on the break and he's really at another level."

So that was an interesting piece of information and that strategy seemed to pay off. Had Maryland been able to execute a little better down the stretch you have to think they could have pulled out the win.

Continue reading this post »

When and Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, S.C. | 7:00

Where to Watch: ESPNU

Line: Vegas: Clemson -8.5 KenPom: Clemson by 8, 23% chance of Maryland victory

Links: Our preview | WaPo notes | "The kids are growing up" | Maryland's surprise pressure defense | Henson's dunk draws Maryland's ire

Notes:

• Milton Jennings. Clemson's starting power forward and easily one of their most influential players, Jennings was suspended for the past few games for academic reasons. He'll be back today, though, with Brad Brownell deciding to bring him back - he won't start, but I'd guess he'd get starter minutes.
• Sean Mosley. Sugar Sean is sitting on 999 points. If he can get a bucket tonight, he'll be the 50th Maryland player to reach 1,000 career points. Here's hoping he gets it.
• Road win? Bueller? Mark Turgeon is still yet to win a true road game in his tenure in College Park. The Terrapins have had some opportunities - the overtime against Miami stands out, and the N.C. State game in Raleigh was a chance as well. But this is by far their most winnable road game yet, and probably their second-best opportunity of the season (Georgia Tech will likely be the best shot).
• Yes, jokes about the Eastern Bloc are welcome. With a hat tip to Brendan Darr for coming up with the name originally, it'll be that much more relevant tonight when 7-1 Alex Len matches up with Clemson's 7-2 Romanian senior Catalin Baciu. It's all very funny.

Continue reading this post »

If the Maryland Terrapins are ever going to win a road game, now would be a good time to do it. Maryland's riding a two-game losing streak heading into their Tuesday road trip to Clemson, with a game against Duke at Cameron Indoor on the horizon. Drop this one against the Tigers, and there's a very good chance Maryland will suffer their first four-game losing streak since 2004-05 - a streak that, incidentally featured two losses to Clemson.

As a side note, the Terrapins might not have a much better chance to get a road win than this: their only remaining road contests will come against Duke, UVA, UNC, and Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are the worst of the bunch, to be sure, but again: drop this one, and that might be the only one Maryland can win.

Clemson, for their part, is a difficult side to judge. Their 3-5 ACC record appears middling at best; so does their non-conference showing, which includes no RPI top-100 wins and losses to College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, UTEP, and Hawaii - the first three of those, for what it's worth, coming on their own floor.

And yet, if you dig a little deeper, they appear to have tightened things up. They absolutely crushed Florida State in Littlejohn - even though that came before the light came on for the Noles, it's still a particularly impressive showing. That was inexplicably followed by a loss to Boston College, which is probably inexcusable, but their other four conference losses - Duke at home and Miami, Virginia, and Virginia Tech on the road - were all close games (biggest loss was Duke by only six) and entirely acceptable showings. In fact, they were impressive, in their own sort of way. Clemson may not be a great team, but they're a scrappy one who haven't been an easy out for anyone. They certainly won't be one for Maryland.

Continue reading this post »

This is a post we do from time to time after games. It's modeled off a similar piece by Kevin Van Valkenburg formerly of the Baltimore Sun. Feel free to agree, disagree, or post your four things in the comments section below.

1. There is no such thing as a moral victory in sports. At least that's what we're told. I'm not sure if moral victories do exist, but if they do, what the Terps have done the past two games is as close to a moral victory as you can get.

On Wednesday, the Terps battled with a good Miami team to double overtime before eventually falling. Today, they gave the #6 team in the country, stacked with three sure-fire 1st round NBA picks all they could handle. At the end of the regular season when committees make their selections both of these games will show up as Ls on the resume. But for this team and its young players, the efforts they put out the last two games certainly mean something.

Let's take a short trip back to where we were at the start the season. I, personally, had no expectation of making the NCAA Tournament, little expectation of even making the NIT, and no confidence that we could hang tough with two top ten teams in Duke and North Carolina. We had eight scholarship players (at the time), one fourth-year senior, and had lost our best player to the NBA Draft.

It's easy to forget all that because the Terps have played pretty well. For the most part, they've beaten the teams they're supposed to beat, and they've taken the ACC's best down to the wire. Naturally, we, as fans, are disappointed when they lose any game. That disappointment is exacerbated when the loss is a very winnable game against a top 10 team. But let's take a moment to look at some positive here.

For young guys like Nick Faust and Alex Len, guys who will form the core of this team for the next two or three years, the experience of being in a dogfight is one they'll remember next year. They'll know what it's like to play in a big game that goes down to the wire. They'll know what it's like to play in front of a packed Comcast Center. And soon enough, because of these close, tough losses, they'll learn how to win these types of games.

Despite the massive talent differential and despite the inexperience, Mark Turgeon has his team fighting, scrapping, and clawing against the conference's best. Let's give the players and the coach some credit for that.

Continue reading this post »

Another shot at a big win for Maryland, another opportunity passed up. Difference is, this time it's pretty tough to complain about it.

Maryland went toe-to-toe with 5th-ranked North Carolina, playing inspired and disciplined for the first 30 minutes before their own fatigue and the Tar Heels' superior talent and athleticism. Terrell Stoglin's 20 points wasn't enough to overcome a combined 57 points from Tyler Zeller, Jon Henson, and Harrison Barnes, as UNC iced it late 83-74.

Maryland's first half was probably the best twenty minutes they've played all season: they executed almost flawlessly, looked dialed-in, and played with huge effort. They turned the ball over only four times, forced eight UNC turnovers, and shot 80% from the stripe. The end result? A 40-37 lead heading into the half.

The Terrapins had a great start to the second half, jumping out to an early 9-point lead. The referees quickly took hold of the game, with a tighter whistle - that was always going to favor the more athletic and refined North Carolina. The heels cut the lead to just two within minutes. A quick 7-0 run around the 10:00 mark gave Carolina a 59-57 lead, and it's one they didn't relinquish. Maryland kept the game within about three for almost the entire game, but tried to extend the game in the closing minute and the score got a little-out-of-hand. Make no mistake: UNC wasn't 9 points better than Maryland today.

Continue reading this post »