WASHINGTON – The Terrapins avoided the slow start that plagued them the last time they played Clemson. They contained the Tigers’ Sharrod Ford, unlike the previous two games between the teams.

The outcome, however, was the same.

The Terps led by 10 points in the first half but trailed by an even wider margin down the stretch in losing to Clemson for the third time this season, 84-72, yesterday at MCI Center.

In bouncing the ACC tournament’s defending champion and unofficial host in the event’s first game, No. 9-seeded Clemson dealt a severe blow to the Terps’ aspirations for a 12th straight NCAA tournament invitation. The loss is the team’s fourth in a row and fifth in the past six games.

“It’s definitely a tough situation that we put ourselves in,” junior point guard John Gilchrist said. “We’re at the point now where we’ve made our bed, so we just have to lay in it.”

The Terps (16-12) won’t know their postseason fate until Sunday, when the 65-team NCAA tournament field is announced, but they know the outlook isn’t as good as it was before.

“We knew that if we won this game, we’d probably have an [at-large] bid into the tournament no matter what the outcome was in the rest of the games,” junior guard Chris McCray said. “To lose this game … it definitely just hurts.”

Terp head coach Gary Williams, who has touted his team’s resumé after recent losses, didn’t say much about Terps’ NCAA chances.

“That’s up to the selection committee. The last 11 years we’ve gone. I’d like to go 12 straight, but that’s entirely up to the selection committee. They’ve got a tough job. Whatever we are, we are,” he said. “You earn your way on the court. Whatever happens, that’s fine.”

Behind McCray’s hot shooting touch, the Terps scored the game’s first eight points and increased their lead to 16-6 five minutes, 17 seconds into the first half.

After missing an early free throw — his first miss at the line since Feb. 5 — McCray smiled, regrouped and, beginning with the second free throw, scored the team’s next 12 points.

After peaking their lead at 10 points, the Terps didn’t score for the next four minutes and 32 seconds. Clemson quickly recovered from its early deficit, scoring the game’s next eight points for a 17-16 lead.

Junior guard Shawan Robinson, who led Clemson with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, drained a 3-pointer at the end of the half to send the Tigers into the break with a 39-36 lead — one they never relinquished.

“Our guys just showed clearly that they were the best team,” Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell said.

The Terps played almost the entire second half without Gilchrist, who sprained his ankle before halftime. The point guard tried to return in the second half, but stayed on the court only 36 seconds before limping back to the sidelines.

Williams didn’t use that as an excuse for the team’s second-half struggles.

“Good teams overcome injuries,” he said. “I’m very disappointed about our team.

“In the second half, we got away from running our offense. We shot the ball pretty quickly, and defensively we just couldn’t stop them.”

The Terps did succeed in shutting down Ford, who averaged 24.5 points in the two regular season meetings. The Tigers’ forward scored his first points more than four minutes into the second half and finished with a modest six points.

But as a team, the Tigers (16-14) shot 47.5 percent from the field and scored 45 points after halftime. Defense was the Terps’ focal point going into the game and has been a leading factor in their late-season struggles.

“What we didn’t do this season is get better defensively. Defense usually gets better as the year goes on. Today Clemson shot [53.6] percent in the first half. You just can’t give up that type of field goal percentage,” Williams said. “That’s probably my biggest disappointment is our defense didn’t do better. And that’s probably as responsible as anything for why we haven’t played better down the stretch.”

McCray led the Terps with 24 points, complemented by eight rebounds and four steals. Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore center Will Bowers, who returned to the starting lineup, had a career-best 10 points.

Williams said his team will return to practice on Sunday.

“Obviously we felt that we let the university down, our coaching staff, our fans. But at the same time, we’re still growing. People grow. People get better,” Gilchrist said. “You can’t look at this like it’s the end of the road because we’re definitely going to be back.”