RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 16 -- Maryland Coach Gary Williams criticized his team late Wednesday night, chiding players for poor mental preparation following a disheartening 82-63 loss at North Carolina State.
The defeat, which came four days after Saturday's overtime victory against Duke, prompted Williams to call out his team as a whole for the first time this season.
Ekene Ibekwe stuffs a shot by Cameron Bennerman for one of his two blocks, but the No. 22 Terrapins fell behind by 14 at halftime and couldn't recover.
(Karl Deblaker -- AP)
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| _____ Tournament Outlook _____
A look at the local Division I colleges and their chances of making the NCAA tournament.
_____ Maryland_____
• Record: 16-10
• RPI: 39
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Duke, vs. Georgia Tech, vs. Duke
• Key Losses: vs. GW, vs. North Carolina State, at Miami, vs. Clemson
• Prognosis: Given the respect of the ACC and their RPI of 39, the Terps are likely in by winning at least two more games.
_____ Georgetown_____
• Record: 16-9
• RPI: 70
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Pittsburgh, at Villanova, vs. Notre Dame
• Key Losses: vs. Oral Roberts, vs. Temple, at St. John's
• Key Remaining Games: at Connecticut (March 2)
• Prognosis: The Hoyas are in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament unless they can beat Connecticut on the road and have a decent showing in the Big East tournament.
_____ George Washington_____
• Record: 18-7
• RPI: 78
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. Maryland, vs. Michigan State
• Key Losses: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Xavier, at Richmond
• Prognosis: Losing to Saint Joseph's at home puts a major dent in the Colonials' tournament hopes. They have an outside shot of getting an at-large bid if they advance to the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
_____ Virginia Tech_____
• Record: 14-12
• RPI: 122
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. North Carolina State, at Georgia Tech, vs. Duke, vs. Miami
• Key Losses: at VMI, at St. John's, vs. Western Michigan
• Key Remaining Games: vs. Maryland
• Prognosis: The loss to Clemson at the buzzer severely damages the Hokies' tournament dreams. They likely need to beat Maryland and advance deep into the ACC tournament to have a chance.
American, George Mason, Howard, Navy and Virginia all need to win their conference tournaments to make the tournament.
**RPI taken from http://kenpom.com/rpi.php
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"This one is on the players," he said throughout a postgame news conference at RBC Center. Williams was calm, welcoming a series of questions about the state of the team in an apparent attempt to send a message.
North Carolina State (15-10, 5-7 ACC) opened a 20-point first-half lead and held off a brief second-half rally, dropping the No. 22 Terrapins to 1-5 on the road in ACC games, the worst in the conference. The Terrapins (15-8, 6-6) remained as inconsistent and as difficult to predict as at any point this season.
"It's the middle of February," Williams said. "This might be our personality."
Asked to characterize his frustration level, Williams said, "It's very frustrating, because my teams aren't like this."
Williams, who has taken blame for not preparing his team effectively, said he has worked as hard this season as any in his 16 seasons at his alma mater. Asked where he can turn for answers, Williams said: "The players have to do it. I've coached a long time, and the people who play have to get the job done."
Williams remained in the locker room with his team for an extended period following Maryland's second blowout loss to the Wolfpack this season.
Point guard John Gilchrist, who nearly tallied a triple-double against Duke, acknowledged the obvious: "Coming out, we didn't have the same intensity. Sometimes coming off an emotional win, it's kind of draining. But you can't use that as an excuse."
Gilchrist was a nonfactor Wednesday, making 1 of 6 shots. He was briefly benched five minutes into the game after a poor start during which he was beaten on a backdoor play to open the contest.
Nik Caner-Medley was impressive in the first half, carrying the Terrapins with 17 points. But the junior scored just two second-half points.
"There aren't too many teams in this league that haven't had swings," Caner-Medley said. "And it's because there are so many good teams. If anyone thinks N.C. State is not a good team and that this is some big upset, they are wrong."
The Wolfpack was extremely efficient, collecting 22 assists on 25 baskets. North Carolina State made seven of its first 12 three-pointers and 13 overall. Maryland could never overcome the 20-point deficit built by the Wolfpack's 20-2 first-half run.
Caner-Medley made a three-pointer to give Maryland a 20-19 lead with 11 minutes 43 seconds remaining in the first half, but the Terps did not score another field goal until Chris McCray's three-pointer almost six minutes later.
A play that seemed to summarize Maryland's misery occurred when Julius Hodge repeatedly dribbled between his legs near the three-point line. Hodge then penetrated and flipped a pass out to Ilian Evtimov, who quickly unleashed a three-point shot.
Hodge celebrated Evtimov's three-point basket even before the ball fell through the net. It was that kind of first half.
The only positive to emerge from the first half was that Maryland was in better shape at halftime than it was in the first meeting on Jan. 23, when the Terrapins trailed 53-27 at the break. Wednesday night, the deficit was 48-34.
The Terrapins fought back in the second half, cutting the deficit to seven points. But North Carolina State's Tony Bethel, a Georgetown transfer, sank a corner three-pointer for a 12-point lead with just more than five minutes remaining.
Williams said his players entered the game "feeling pretty good about ourselves" because of the regular season sweep against Duke, adding that North Carolina State "made us pay for that."
Asked how good his team is, Williams said: "On nights we're really good. On nights we're really bad."
