Following losses in two of its past three games, the Terrapin men’s basketball team hosts North Carolina-Asheville Sunday in the final tune-up before the team’s ACC opener.

“The key thing for us is to get better. We’re close. We’re not that far away,” Terp coach Gary Williams said.

Williams identified defense and half-court offense as areas in which the No. 23-ranked Terps (4-2) need to improve. Sunday, the squad allowed 101 points to George Washington – the first team to top the century mark against the Terps since 2000.

The defense has been inconsistent this season. After Williams chastised the team’s defensive play in the preseason, the Terps put forth a dominating effort against Memphis a couple weeks ago and then held George Mason to 15 first-half points Saturday.

But George Washington punished the Terps from the perimeter, sinking 10 of 14 3-point attempts.

After the loss Sunday, George Washington coach Karl Hobbs said the Terps are “probably the best team in the country at stealing the ball and then converting.” But Williams wants to see better results from the half-court offense when the Terps can’t turn the game into a fest of fast-break dunks.

North Carolina-Asheville may not be the best test in that regard. The Bulldogs (1-4) rank near the bottom of the Big South Conference. This will be their second contest against an ACC foe, having lost 78-59 to Clemson earlier this season.

The Bulldogs are led by forwards Joseph Barber (11.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Brian McCullough (11.8 ppg., 5.6 rpg, 13 steals).

It will be the Terps’ first home game in 19 days after trips to Springfield, Mass., Madison, Wis., and MCI Center in the past two weeks.

The Terps were ranked No. 12 before losing to Wisconsin and George Washington. They meet their first ACC opponent Dec. 19 when Florida State visits Comcast Center.

“There’s nothing really to fix in my opinion,” junior point guard Gilchrist said of the team’s recent struggles. “All we got to do is just want to win.”

The Terps’ only prior meeting with North Carolina-Asheville was a 110-52 win in 1997. But Williams is familiar with Bulldogs’ coach Eddie Biedenbach from his playing days. Biedenbach played for N.C. State in the 1960s.

– TERP NOTES: All-ACC defensive end Shawne Merriman hosts his second annual Holiday Coat Drive before the Terp basketball game Sunday. Merriman and other Terp football players will begin to collect coats to be dispensed to area family shelters outside Comcast Center at noon. More than 3,500 winter coats were collected at the drive last year. All donations are tax-deductible.