Another Nightmare Ending

Tigers Rally From 20 Points Down To Deal Terps Tough Home Loss : Clemson 73, Maryland 70

When the final buzzer sounded, Maryland Coach Gary Williams stood motionless near the bench. Senior James Gist, playing his final home game, crouched near the free throw line and bowed his head. And the Terrapins' fans, so raucous moments earlier, were mostly silent, with some hollering at the Clemson team jumping around near midcourt.

The familiar setting of Comcast Center has been the scene for Maryland's worst moments all season. But the Terrapins eclipsed those low points -- the losses to Ohio and American, the late-game collapse against Virginia Tech -- with a stunning meltdown that led to a costly 73-70 loss to Clemson, a defeat that will linger for years.

"It stays with you," Williams said. "This will stay with me for a long time."

After Maryland built a 20-point lead with 11 minutes to play, Clemson (21-7, 9-5) made a frantic rally to tie the game in the final minute and take the lead when reserve guard Terrence Oglesby, a 19-year-old freshman, sank a 22-foot game-winning three-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining. Maryland's Greivis Vasquez unleashed a desperation heave in the final seconds that was off the mark.

The loss was worse than the four-point setback to Virginia Tech on Feb. 20, when the Hokies scored on their final 13 possessions to overcome a six-point deficit with five minutes to play. Last night's defeat was more reminiscent of Duke's epic rally at Cole Field House in 2001, when the Blue Devils overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 54 seconds of regulation to win in overtime.

In the Maryland locker room, players shook their heads in disbelief, calling it the worst loss of their careers. Vasquez took responsibility for the loss, adding: "We just relaxed. It hurts so much. I thought we had these guys, up 20 at home. Our fans deserve better than this."

The Terrapins, who are 13-6 at home, missed a chance to give three seniors a perfect Senior-Night ending. They squandered a chance to take sole possession of third place in the ACC. And they missed a prime opportunity to earn a much-needed second victory over a top 50 team. The Terrapins (18-12, 8-7) now will prepare for a regular season finale at Virginia on Sunday with a flawed NCAA tournament resume and a badly bruised psyche. Maryland likely needs to beat last-place Virginia and win a game in the ACC tournament to have a reasonable chance at an at-large tournament berth.

"I'm sure as the week goes on, I will find something to tell the team," Gist said. "I don't know much about how to keep anyone's spirits up, especially mine right now. We have to stay tough and [stay] a team."

Williams, who appeared more pained than angry afterward, initially pointed to poor free throw shooting (12 of 21) and erratic three-point shooting (2 of 15) as reasons for the loss. But the Terrapins also appeared to become tight offensively late in the game, as Vasquez was one of the few players looking for his shot as the shot clock wound down. Maryland also committed 21 turnovers against a Clemson team that employed full-court pressure much of the game.

"We felt that we really used defense as our anchor," Clemson Coach Oliver Purnell said, "and when everything went against you and when things started to go well for us, if we still kept at it defensively that we would have a chance to win in the end."

Clemson's James Mays, who scored a game-high 20 points, said: "Maryland was about to blow us out and then we just went back to what we do best. We went back to a full-court press, traps, ball screens, hand-offs. We did everything."

Maryland was on its way to its most impressive home victory of the season after Vasquez made a layup with 11 minutes 21 seconds remaining to give the Terrapins a 59-39 advantage.

Oglesby, meantime, made consecutive three-pointers, the second from 25 feet, to whittle the deficit to seven points with 6:44 to play. In the final minute, Mays jumped into the passing lane, intercepted a pass from Landon Milbourne and raced the length of the court for a dunk that tied the score at 70 with 45 seconds remaining.

Maryland called a timeout, hoping to get the ball inside to Gist. But Vasquez could not do that and instead penetrated and missed a running shot with 20 seconds remaining, giving Clemson possession and Oglesby one final shot, a basket that will stay with the Terrapins for some time.

"Only teams with good character recover from a game like that," Williams said. "That can be devastating, there is no doubt about that. We will see what we are made of."