Season in Review

Maryland
19-14 (7-9 ACC)

Even the most die-hard Maryland fans had to acknowledge that this past year would be a down year following the loss of Greivis Vasquez. And that's how it turned out. The Terps had a lot of young players who played a lot of significant time - and that led to some inconsistency. For the most part, Maryland beat the teams that it was better than, but just couldn't get a big win over a better team.

The Terps handled themselves pretty well in Madison Square Garden early in the year, but were ultimately overmatched in losses to Pitt and Illinois. The rest of their non-conference slate was pretty undistinguished, and they had a disappointing loss in their ACC opener at home to Boston College. As the ACC season went on, the Terps just couldn't seem to string together a series of wins to get any momentum. They were on the outside of the NCAA bubble much of the year, and seemed to run out of gas at the end of the ACC season, losing their last three conference games. Somewhat surprisingly, the Terps did not even get an NIT bid, and the ACC Tournament marked the end of their season.

Jordan Williams did it all for Maryland. He had a long streak of consecutive double-doubles, and ended up with 16.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game on the year. When he didn't play well, the Terps didn't play well. Other than Williams, the only other double figure scorer was freshman Terrell Stoglin. Veteran players like Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley didn't produce consistently enough to lift Maryland. And three point shooting was a big problem. No one that played on a consistent basis shot better than 36% for the year from three point range.

Biggest Win:
78-62 vs. Florida State on 2/23

It was tough to find a signature win for this Terps team. They had only a few wins against teams that made the NCAA Tournament. They did manage a nice 16 point win here against a Florida State team that made the Sweet 16, although FSU was just learning how to play without Chris Singleton. This got the Terps to 7-6 in the ACC before they lost three straight.

Worst Loss:
74-60 vs. Virginia on 3/5

Maryland came into this Senior Day game against their rival Virginia needing a win to finish 8-8 in the conference. They were very flat in this one and let the Cavaliers control the game from the opening tip. This came after Maryland had won the game in Charlottesville by 24 points.

Postseason Play:

Maryland came into the ACC Tournament as the 7 seed, and had a fairly easy eight point victory over NC State. They then had to play Duke on short rest. That proved to be very tough, as they ran out of gas in the second half and lost by 16. Maryland probably didn't think that would be the end of their season, but they didn't get an NIT bid.

Looking Ahead:

Maryland fans pin much of their hope for next season on the decision due soon from Williams. If he decides to come back to school (which at this point seems unlikely) the Terps could have a very solid team next year. If not, they have a big hole in the frontcourt. The team's other frontcourt starter, Dino Gregory, is graduating. Bowie and Tucker are graduating as well. What Maryland is left with are two rising sophomores in Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard who could end up being great players. James Padgett could be a solid player in the post, but the Terps need more if they are going to make it back to the NCAAs next year.