Wednesday, January 7, 2009

When: 8 p.m. Where: Comcast Center. Records: Terrapins 11-2; Bears 5-8. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WJZ (105.7 FM, 1300 AM), WFMD (930 AM), WPTX (1690 AM).

ONE MORE TO GO: After piling up sizable wins over inferior opponents for the better part of a month, the Terrapins are eagerly awaiting the start of conference play on Saturday. The potential problem with such eagerness resides in the final nonconference game tonight against Morgan State. Maryland Coach Gary Williams stressed during a Monday teleconference how important it would be for his team to remain focused solely on the Bears. Yesterday, Williams said his team's effort in practice has shown that his players aren't looking ahead. "These guys have been good at trying to figure out what we have to do to win games," he said. "If you see a team come out flat and you don't think they played particularly well, it's usually because in practice they haven't been able to focus. It's not that game that night; it's what they've done in practice leading up to it."

GLASSWORK NEEDED: When asked yesterday about one of Maryland's post players, Williams flipped through scouting reports on Morgan State kept in a red folder until he found the numbers for which he was looking. "They're ridiculous in terms of their offensive rebounds," he said. "Where is it? Offensive rebounds. They have 223; their opponents have 153. That's a lot. They're a very good rebounding team." Leading Morgan State's effort on the boards is redshirt freshman Kevin Thompson (6 feet 8, 240 pounds), who is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. Williams has spoken in recent weeks of the importance of limiting opponents' second-chance scoring opportunities.

-- Steve Yanda