Maryland Basketball

Maryland vs. Georgia Southern When: 7 p.m. Where: Comcast Center. Internet: Game televised on ESPN3.com. Radio: WTEM (980 AM), WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM) . Records: Terrapins 3-1; Eagles 2-2. The Terrapins have taken care of business when necessary at home over their past three nonconference games and will look for that to continue against an aggressive and athletic Georgia Southern squad. With Saturday night's game serving as a tuneup before the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday against...

NEW YORK — Inside a graveyard-silent locker room, stuffed with empty eyes and shaking heads, Dez Wells stared straight into floor, his words barely a whisper. All the talk about Maryland's progression since its last trip to the Big Apple dissipated beneath the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. Regressing into the sloppy bunch that fell to Kentucky in Brooklyn in November , the Terrapins ended their season with a 71-60 loss to Iowa in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

After slogging through a short-handed, injury-plagued inaugural season, Coach Mark Turgeon has devoted his offseason to restocking Maryland's basketball roster. On Monday, Michigan's 6-9 sophomore Evan Smotrycz emerged as the latest dividend of that effort after he confirmed his decision to transfer to Maryland. He's expected to add a sorely needed offensive spark to the front court. As a transfer, Smotrycz won't be eligible to compete until the 2013-14 season, at which point he'll have two seasons remaining.

Maryland 's last trip to New York City began in spectacle, with rap mogul Jay-Z sitting courtside as his hits boomed throughout the NBA's newest attraction. On the opposite bench at Brooklyn's Barclays Center sat Kentucky , then ranked third nationally, expected to reload from a championship season with another unstoppable arsenal of lottery talent. A three-point Terps loss , featuring a monstrous coming-out party from Alex Len , was viewed positively then. It meant promise.

The most spirited cheers at Comcast Center on Friday night came less than three minutes into Maryland 's game against Radford , when Pe'Shon Howard made his long-awaited debut after being sidelined by a broken left foot since the season began. Howard assumed his role as the Terrapins' primary point guard with relative ease, firing a no-look pass and hitting the first two shots he attempted. But for the third time in as many games, Maryland struggled mightily to defeat the sort of mid-major opponent that ought to...

The instant Brene Moseley planted her left leg and heard the familiar pop, she had no doubt. Maryland's promising sophomore point guard was out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament . Adding to the exasperation were the setting and circumstances: an intrasquad scrimmage at Comcast Center on Oct. 21 during which Moseley absorbed no contact when her knee buckled. Teammates did all they could to console Moseley, suggesting she try to walk. If the joint could withstand that...

Maryland (4-3) vs. Mount St. Mary's (1-6) When: 8 p.m. Where: Comcast Center. Radio: WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM). Outlook: For the most part, Maryland's 78-71 victory over Notre Dame in Sunday's BB&T Classic represented a confidence boost, with the inexperienced Terps fending off a second-half rally to defeat a big-name opponent. But the struggles of freshman Nick Faust continued. The recently converted point guard managed just three points (missing...

Gary Williams rescued Maryland's basketball program from NCAA probation, pushed it to the top and remains second to none as a game coach. In recent years, though, Williams also has fallen short of the high competitive standards he set, while refusing to revise his outdated recruiting philosophies. In the process, Williams has become such a polarizing figure, most Terrapin fans probably agree with only one-half of the above. But the Maryland coach is all of this. He is a hero who resuscitated his...

When opponents scout this Maryland basketball team , Terrapins Coach Mark Turgeon wants them to think defense. So after reviewing Maryland's 51-50 upset of No. 14 North Carolina State on Wednesday, just two words came to mind. Holy smokes. "That was high-level defense for 40 minutes," Turgeon said Friday. Alex Len's buzzer-beating tip-in caused the sellout crowd to storm the Comcast Center floor , but a stellar defensive sequence gave the Terrapins the opportunity to secure arguably...

Through seven games, Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon stuck with the same starting lineup, a veteran-laden bunch, with younger teammates entering from the bench. Turgeon could tinker from there, working with combinations and coaching by feel. But an entirely different group found themselves huddling after pregame introductions Wednesday evening at Comcast Center. James Padgett and Dez Wells were the two holdovers, starting their eighth straight game, joined by Jake Layman, Seth Allen and Shaquille Cleare,...

A whoop boomed inside the Maryland men's basketball team's locker room, where all eyes were trained on the flat-screen televisions as they watched Kentucky try to avoid a colossal upset. The Terrapins had hoped for a rematch with the Wildcats, potentially bookending their season in New York in the National Invitation Tournament title game two weeks from now. But while Kentucky sparked a court-storming at Robert Morris , ending its disappointing season, Maryland rolled to a 86-70 first-round win...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Alex Len and Devin Thomas sprawled on the floor, arms tangled together, each gripping the loose ball like it was a precious brick of gold. Whistles blared. Officials raised their thumbs to the ceiling, signaling a jump ball. Teammates poked their hands into the fray, trying to separate the fierce competitors who, in the most inconsequential of moments Saturday afternoon, wouldn't let go. But when Len rolled over Saturday, the ball still in his grasp and boos raining down on...

Amid the somber aftermath of another disappointment away from College Park , the Maryland basketball team trudged out of Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion, loaded onto the team bus and, for the first time all season, returned to its hotel. The road has been plenty unkind to the Terrapins throughout a chaotic season, and even less gracious to their sleep schedules. Win or lose, they bolt the opponents' arena and head straight to the airport. Following a game that tipped off at 8 p.m. or later, a...

I salute John Feinstein for his Feb. 24 Sports column on the University of Maryland's long-overdue recognition of former men's basketball coach Lefty Driesell [" Maryland, at long last, honors Lefty "]. I attended Maryland before Mr. Driesell arrived, and I went to a lot of games while in school. Feet resting on the chair in front, coat sprawled across the chair next to me, I sat by myself in Cole Field House. I saw some great basketball, but it was played by Duke and North Carolina and just about every...

ATLANTA — Alex Len, Seth Allen and Shaquille Cleare stared blankly across an empty media room on the top floor of McCamish Pavilion, slouched into individual love seats. There was no love in the air, however, after another disappointing loss for the Maryland basketball team. Allen tapped his phone. Cleare wore an expressionless mask and shook his head. A wall-mounted television displayed the evening's statistics, while interviews with Georgia Tech's players blared...

A year ago, Largo forward John Majors watched much of the team's run to the Maryland 2A boys' basketball title game from the bench as a seldom-used reserve. Abdulai Bundu , then a freshman, spent the season on junior varsity, so he was forced to cheer on the Lions as a fan in the Comcast Center stands. As Largo kicked off their latest playoff run on Tuesday night with a 77-62 win over fourth-seeded Central in a Maryland 2A South first-round game, both...

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami's BankUnited Center has been a scene of futility for Maryland since the 7,200-seat arena opened in 2003. Wednesday, it was a scene of wild controversy, hapless first-half shooting and a spirited comeback that fell short, with the Terrapins falling in double overtime, 90-86 . Missing his team's grittiest effort of the season was Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon. He was ejected with more than seven minutes to play in regulation after drawing two quick technical fouls for an eruption over...

Maryland 's Nick Faust hasn't played point guard regularly since he was 10 or 11 years old. But asked what has been the biggest challenge in making the transition from high school to college basketball, the 6-foot-6 freshman didn't mention his myriad new responsibilities or the pressure of playing an unfamiliar role in the Terps' starting lineup. "I would definitely say stamina," said Faust, who was converted from shooting guard to point guard in October, after sophomore Pe'Shon Howard ...

A controversial request for state money to erect a statue of late basketball star Len Bias at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville will be withdrawn because of concerns about the message the honor would send to students. Bias was a popular University of Maryland basketball player who died 27 years ago from a cocaine overdose. State Sen. Victor Ramirez (D-Dist. 47) of Cheverly said he decided to pull a $50,000 bond bill he submitted that would cover the costs of creating the statue after concerns were raised...

Late last week, Gaithersburg's senior captains – including point guard Deja Rollins – called a 45-minute team meeting to address the team's mindset heading into the Maryland 4A playoffs. It had become a common practice for Rollins and the Trojans the past two seasons to have a long meeting before a postseason run – and in Rollins' mind, the gatherings were key factors in the Trojans claiming the last two 4A championships. But no meeting...