Allison Akers/The Diamondback

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski sat on the stage of the Greensboro Coliseum’s interview room on Friday afternoon and soberly told a cautionary tale of what can happen to a team — even a very good one — without the right intensity at the ACC Tournament.

Krzyzewski, who has guided the Blue Devils to 11 ACC Tournament titles, had just watched his top-seeded team recover from a sluggish start to cruise into the semifinals with a 57-46 win against an overmatched Virginia squad.

“I think the situation created the sense of urgency,” Krzyzewski said, of fending off the Cavaliers down the stretch. “Someone was asking about the defense, well okay, it’s 46-44 [at one point in the second half.] You better play or you’re going to be home tonight wondering what the heck is going to happen on Sunday [when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed].”

Hours later, the No. 2 seed Terrapins learned that lesson the hard way in a 69-64 loss to No. 7 seed Georgia Tech. After a six-day lay-off, the Terps never recovered after falling behind as many as 19 points during a lackluster first half.

Now, the No. 19 Terps (23-8) must deal with life after a premature ACC Tournament exit.

Despite an improved second-half effort, the Terps — and several other probable NCAA Tournament teams who fell in early round play here — must endure a longer wait until kicking off the NCAA Tournament next week.

“You remind a team that’s how we play,” said coach Gary Williams of his team’s ultimately fruitless second-half charge. “That’s how we played all year like we played in the second half. …Now everybody’s in the same situation that’s playing in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll take our chances, and hopefully we play well for 40 minutes our next game.”

Before their Tournament opener, the Terps had some time to rest following a seven-game winning streak to close the regular season. That run helped earn them a share of the conference’s regular season title. The Yellow Jackets came in riding momentum from a 62-58 first-round win against North Carolina on Thursday.

That was just one factor behind the Terps’ nightmare start.

Williams said his team wasn’t “ready emotionally.” Georgia Tech’s hot-shooting and inside dominance sparked them to a 38-19 late in the first half.

The Terps’ pressure defense helped them rally quickly in the second half. Williams called the second-half resurgence “a matter of effort.” The Yellow Jackets had twice as many turnovers as field goals in the second half (16-8) but managed to earn their first win in 10 tries against the Terps.

While the Yellow Jackets survived to play in Saturday’s semifinal, the Terps’ concern quickly became making sure such a lapse doesn’t happen again.

Starting slow is not necessarily a new problem. During that seven-game winning streak, the Terps showed an ability to overcome shaky opening halves. In five of seven wins they trailed in the second half.

But after Friday’s effort, players struggled to explain how a ACC Tournament that began with such promise ended so quickly.

“It’s our team — me Eric and Greivis,” forward Landon Milbourne said, deflecting Williams’ self-criticism toward the team’s seniors. “We’ve got a big responsibility to make sure these guys are ready to play. We’ve got to take that [blame] for not doing what we were supposed to do to get our team ready to play.”

It might not be easy to shake off such a disappointing conclusion to their time in Greensboro. But even in the minutes after the loss Friday night, players realized they’ll have to move on quickly if they’re going to fare better in the NCAA Tournament.

That has become a common theme for the Terps in recent years, as they lost their first ACC Tournament game for the third time in four seasons.

Creating a sense of urgency now shouldn’t be a problem. The veteran Terps know with their next loss, their season is finished.

They’ll have a little more time than they might have expected to prepare for their NCAA opener, which will come either Thursday or Friday.

And players said that might not be such a bad thing.

“We all want to get this out of our system,” Vasquez said. “This loss is really going to get us better. We’re going to work harder. We’re going to go big-time hard next week in practice.”

edetweiler@umdbk.com