Maryland prepares for two different Boston College lineups

For much of the past two weeks, the Maryland men's basketball team prepared to face ACC opponents that possessed superior size and front-court depth. The Terrapins knew what they were getting into when they took the court against Florida State and Wake Forest, and they readied their game plan accordingly.

On Saturday, however, Maryland (10-5, 1-1) will enter Conte Forum to take on a Boston College squad as enigmatic as its résumé would suggest. The Eagles (10-7, 1-2) own wins over South Carolina and Miami, yet they have suffered losses to Saint Joseph's and Maine. They went with a big lineup early on this season before trying out a smaller look near the end of December -- and then reversed course recently and went back to the bigger lineup for good. Maybe.

Maryland Coach Gary Williams and the Terrapins might not be the only ones uncertain of what to expect from Boston College; the Eagles don't seem particularly sure, either.

"I wouldn't have anticipated the fluctuations that we've had to this degree," Boston College Coach Al Skinner told the Boston Globe recently. "Normally, you'd be able to work your way up to [being consistent], but because of some of the inconsistency that we've had and because of the new roles that have been developed, we have not been able to do that."

For the past two seasons, Boston College's offense revolved around point guard Tyrese Rice, who tallied more than 2,000 career points. But Rice now plays professionally in Greece, and his departure left a gaping hole in the Eagles' identity.

Boston College began the season with a starting lineup that included 6-foot-10 center Josh Southern, but Skinner benched Southern on Dec. 20 in favor of a smaller lineup. Without Southern, the Eagles relied on quickness and sheer will to maintain a strong presence on the boards in nonconference play (plus-7.5 rebounding margin).

Once ACC play began, Boston College realized surviving with a diminutive lineup that featured no player taller than 6-8 forward Joe Trapani would be difficult, to say the least. In the Eagles' first two conference games of 2010 -- road contests at Clemson and Duke -- they were outrebounded handily. Prior to a 20-point loss Wednesday at Duke, Southern was reinserted to the starting lineup, though he played just 16 minutes because of foul trouble.

"Without Southern in there, it's almost a four-guard lineup," Williams said. "Trapani plays the [center position], but he doesn't really play it like a typical post player. He's their biggest guy, that's all. And interesting, with the way they went against Duke, they pulled [shooting guard] Reggie Jackson out of the starting lineup, and he's one of their better players. He had 20 [points], in fact, in the game.

"We're not really sure who they're going to start because of that, so we have to be ready for either way, whether they go big or whether they play the lineup that they had been playing prior to the Duke game."

With a relatively small lineup of its own, Maryland surprised many ACC followers by outrebounding Florida State and Wake Forest in the past week. Although Boston College does not possess the imposing size either of the Terrapins' first two conference opponents did, Williams said Maryland must approach the glass in the same manner -- by siphoning contributions from guards and forwards alike.

"Rebounding is going after the ball," Williams said. "We really went after it against Florida State and Wake, and we have to continue to do that because we're not a big team. . . . Size is important, but if you're 6-5 and getting to the ball really quick, that makes up for a slow 6-8 guy that can't react quite as quick, and that's what they do."

That's what Maryland does, as well. Though the Terrapins dropped an overtime decision at Wake Forest on Tuesday, their rebounding effort confirmed at least one component of their team persona.

"It's not like you have to regroup after that game," Williams said. "You just move on with a pretty good feel."