Terp forward James Gist is fouled by George Washington’s Carl Elliott in the Terps’ loss at the BB&T Classic in Washington last night.

WASHINGTON — D.J. Strawberry sat with his head down in front of his locker last night at MCI Center, trying to put his team’s loss into words, but the junior guard couldn’t muster the verbiage to describe the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s most bitter loss of the season.

The No. 21-ranked Terps fell for the second-straight time to George Washington, but it wasn’t just the defeat that had the Terps downtrodden – it was the manner in which the No. 19 Colonials disposed of them.

George Washington badgered the Terps with suffocating pressure throughout and controlled the tempo, utilizing the style coach Gary Williams has trademarked in his 17 seasons with the program.

The result: 25 turnovers in a 78-70 loss to a local rival that is making a habit of beating what used to be the area’s only premier team.

“They made us play at their speed today,” said Strawberry, who turned the ball over seven times against George Washington. “We played way too fast. We didn’t get into an offensive set. I didn’t get us into the offense today.”

Although Strawberry took some of the blame for the Terps’ inability to execute their half-court sets, Williams made a point to tell everyone it has his own fault for the ineffective offense.

“I didn’t have them prepared to handle their pressure,” Williams said. “We didn’t do a good job, so I’ll take responsibility – I’ve got to do a better job.”

The Terps rallied back several times in the second half, but couldn’t take the lead from the Colonials. Senior guard Chris McCray kept the Terps close, netting 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. But whenever the Terps had a chance to overtake George Washington, they couldn’t.

With the Colonials holding a 63-62 lead with under five minutes remaining, the Terps went cold from the field. After Ekene Ibekwe’s lay-up with 5 minutes, 24 seconds left, the Terps did not score another field goal until the 1:31 mark.

The drought allowed the Colonials to open the lead to nine and secure the victory.

Aside from the 25 turnovers, the Terps were inconsistent from the foul line. They shot just 60 percent (18-of-30), including a dismal 47 percent (7-of-15) in the second half.

“We’d come back and they’d put the ball in the basket,” Williams said. “We struggled. Free throws are funny because when you miss them, it has a lot to do with things.”

J.R. Pinnock’s (19 points) 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Colonials their largest lead of the first half at 29-23, but the Terps came right back after an untimely technical foul on George Washington forward Carl Elliott.

Eilliott was whistled for a foul on Strawberry near midcourt. He spiked the ball to the ground and was hit with a technical. Chris McCray and D.J. Strawberry converted all four free throws and the Terps were within two.

But Mike Hall’s three at the buzzer stretched the Colonial lead back to five, giving the momentum right back to George Washington as they headed for the MCI Center tunnel.

Neither the Terps nor the Colonials were effective in their half-court offense, as the two teams combined for 22 first-half turnovers – 14 from the Terps.

“They had us scrambling,” senior Nik Caner-Medley said. “By the time we got it over half court, we had about 20 seconds to set up our offense. We think we beat ourselves the way we handled their pressure.”

Heralded Colonial forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu was held in check for most of the night, posting nine points. But it was the play of reserve Maureece Rice (19 points) and Mike Hall (14 points and 12 rebounds) that sparked George Washington.

“We didn’t come into this game looking at it like it was as big of a challenge as everybody made it out to be,” Hall said. “It was just a great win in a great atmosphere.”

Contact reporter Scott Clipp at clippdbk@gmail.com.