Call it a learning experience. Every time the Terrapin men’s basketball team has ventured onto the road, it has been confronted with obstacles, from crowd noise and intimidating atmospheres to hot-shooting opponents.
Recently, the Terps have found out what happens when they’re dominated on the glass, lit up from the field and victimized by tough misses.
Each time, it yielded a new lesson learned. But as the road losses have piled up, so has the notion that the Terps need to stop the bleeding and win an ACC game away from Comcast Center. They may be at the climax of that pressure now, as losing tomorrow at Wake Forest could make the road to the NCAA tournament a lot harder.
“We need it pretty bad. It’s tough. We’re gonna do everything we can to get the win at Wake Forest. But that’s all we can do now,” senior guard D.J. Strawberry said. “It’s less opportunities [to get road wins now], but we’ve got five of our next eight at home. … Try to get a couple on the road and we’ll be in a good situation.”
That good situation can only come about if the Terps manage to add ACC road wins to an otherwise strong case for the tournament (No. 34 RPI, No. 17 strength of schedule). But three losses in conference games away from Comcast Center have raised concern, especially given the Terps’ difficult schedule down the stretch, which includes three games against ACC powerhouses Duke and North Carolina.
But even as time mounts since the Terps’ last road win – two months and six days by tip-off tomorrow – coach Gary Williams and his players aren’t reaching for the panic button.
“You have to keep things in perspective where we are. We have to go to Wake, it’ll be tough on Saturday, then we get to come home for a couple games,” Williams said. “You stay with it. You can’t rule yourself out of anything at this point in the season.”
In terms of the overall picture, the Terps (16-6, 2-5 ACC) are in better position now than they were a year ago when they had two fewer victories, even with a better ACC record. An early-season win against now 17-6 Michigan State appears to be the Terps’ signature win so far, and their fast start put them in elite company for most of the season.
But the recent trend could spell trouble come Selection Sunday. The Terps are 2-4 in their past six games, and most projections have the Terps out of the tournament after the loss to Florida State.
Williams has been largely upbeat about his team’s chances and the upcoming schedule, something Strawberry said is the result of the fiery coach sensing the Terps’ desire and the need to be positively reinforced. That philosophy has apparently rubbed off on at least Strawberry and fellow senior Mike Jones, who didn’t hang their heads about the future after losing 96-79 Tuesday night.
There’s a clear need to get a road win as soon as possible, with a chance to do so at last-place Wake Forest (10-11, 2-7), but players aren’t harping on it as the be-all, end-all of the season.
“You kinda need a couple of road games – whether it’s one or two,” Jones said. “We still have games left. Every game we play most likely is gonna be a must-win, but we can’t win every game.”
Desperation isn’t a word bouncing off the tongues of players, many of whom have little or no tournament experience. Williams above all knows games that didn’t turn out as wins – such as the overtime loss at Virginia Tech – can’t be replayed.
Williams’ definitive statement is that his team is focused on turning the season around.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to know you have to keep fighting. Nobody’s gonna feel sorry for you,” Williams said. “You have to get out of it yourself. We’ve gotta do it, our team. We’ll be a team, and we’ll come ready to play.”
Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.
