CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – If Maryland is sweating it out on Selection Sunday, they will surely look back on games like Saturday’s 76-72 loss at Boston College as one reason why. It’s not the only game like this, as head coach Gary Williams was quick to note, but it was the latest one in which they were not far from pulling out a win.
“We’ve been involved in a lot of these this year where we’ve been close, and we haven’t been able to get over the top,” said the Terrapin mentor after the game.
After Boston College started fast, it was all Maryland for a few minutes early on. The Terrapins scored nine unanswered points, making the Eagles pay for several mistakes at their end of the floor, and took the lead. In the second half, they built a five-point lead and had smaller leads later. But once Boston College scored 10 unanswered points as part of a 16-2 run, they never lost the lead and the Terrapins couldn’t quite play catch-up.
Reggie Jackson was the biggest reason the Terrapins couldn’t pull it out, scoring a career-high 31 points on 12-16 shooting, including 5-7 from long range. He scored eight points in the decisive run, aided by six more from Corey Raji, and was the prime reason the Terrapins lost the game at the defensive end. Clearly, it wasn’t on offense, although the Terrapins shot 35.5 percent from the field in the second half. Boston College shot over 48 percent from the field for the game.
“You have to be able to stop people, and we couldn’t stop Jackson,” Gary Williams said.
One factor was the play of the Terrapins’ key players. Although they had five players score in double figures, Adrian Bowie was a complete non-factor and Jordan Williams struggled to get 12 points and eight rebounds while averaging a double-double on the season. Cliff Tucker went scoreless in 15 minutes off the bench. Meanwhile, Dino Gregory had 15 points and seven rebounds, while freshmen guards Pe’Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin each had 14 with good shooting. The latter is a promising development, as Howard and Stoglin are starting to grow up and Saturday provided further evidence. But with Bowie and Williams not having their best games, it was up to players like Gregory and the freshmen to beat Boston College.
Also sticking out is that this was a close game, although the Terrapins were never within one possession in the final nine minutes of the game. Maryland is now 2-4 in games decided by four points or less, and 2-6 in games decided by eight points or less. The four losses have all been in games which, if won, would surely have boosted their NCAA Tournament profile. They lost by four to Illinois in New York, twice by four to Boston College, and by three to Temple at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
In light of that, it’s not surprising that Gary Williams didn’t feel like Saturday’s game was as much a missed opportunity as it might seem at first glance.
“The missed opportunity was on December 12,” said the Maryland coach, referring to the first meeting with the Eagles. In that game, the Terrapins led with about a minute and a half to go, but the Eagles scored the last six points to pick up a big road win.
Is there a cumulative effect of the close losses, aside from the fact that they go down as losses on the NCAA Tournament resume? Although it is possible, it’s not like the Terrapins have been in these games non-stop. But when they have been in them, the result hasn’t always been what they hope.
“It feels like almost every game we’ve lost is a close game, and we still haven’t found out what it is to get over the hump and be able to win those tough games,” said Jordan Williams.
The Terrapins and Eagles are in a logjam in the middle of the ACC standings. The Eagles are now a half game up, but with two wins over the Terrapins they are in a better place should it come down to those two teams. Maryland’s best win could be either at Penn State or at home against Clemson, but neither team is an NCAA Tournament lock although Clemson had won four of five before losing at home to North Carolina on Saturday.
With the ACC being down this season, remaining opportunities for quality wins are hardly plentiful, although the Terrapins next play at Virginia Tech on Tuesday and still have to go to North Carolina late this month. But time is running out, and they need to pull out more of the close games to be in a better position.
“We’ve got to get tougher, that’s the main thing,” said Jordan Williams. “Toughness is the key, and the day we become tougher is the day we become better.”
The Terrapins naturally remain a confident team, aided by their good road record. They are 4-3 overall on the road and 3-2 in ACC play, so they’ve shown they can win on the road. Chances are, road losses won’t be a big reason it’s a close call for the NCAA Tournament, but games like Saturday’s will. The Terrapins will look back on a few missed opportunities along the way.
