"We definitely deserved" to be benched, starting guard Chris McCray said.
The lead soon ballooned to 15 when Cheyenne Moore made a three-pointer from the corner. Clemson made 7 of its first 11 shots and was shooting close to 60 percent for much of the first half.
Clemson sweeps the season series from Maryland with a 97-93 triumph Tuesday as John Gilchrist, left, is consoled by teammate Travis Garrison after a first-half foul.
(Toni L. Sandys - The Washington Post)
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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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Maryland players said Monday they would have a better showing against Clemson in the second meeting between the schools in three weeks. The Tigers blasted the Terps by 15 points on Feb. 1.
And yet, nothing was different in the first half last night. Maryland had six turnovers in the first seven minutes. Maryland rallied in the game's final minutes to trim the lead, but the Terps were hampered by playing the last nine minutes with both of their starting front-court players, Travis Garrison and Ekene Ibekwe, carrying four fouls.
Ford scored 17 points in the second half, following up his 25-point effort against Maryland in the first meeting.
"He was quite a force," Clemson Coach Oliver Purnell said.
Only two games remain in the regular season, yet Gilchrist said that Maryland is still searching for its identity. Added Caner-Medley, who scored a team-high 23 points, "It's definitely a big loss."
Gilchrist spoke of players dealing with personal factors that have had an effect on the team's cohesion.
He declined to elaborate, only adding, "We're fighting things we can't even see."
