Terps 64, Tigers 62: quotes, notes & numbers

In Brad Brownell’s View…

Overall: "To our kids' credit we worked hard. We were on the edge of the cliff fighting, we just couldn't hang on. You're pushed off the edge in all of these games and somehow, someway you find a spark at the end of all of them. That's when you take a couple of big shots and make big plays. In some ways it's "fools gold" that we get the opportunity to win these games. We get lucky and get a chance at redemption. We're lucky to be able to play these close games. It's tough when you're scratching and clawing your way back. You think back at the free-throws and shots that were missed.

"We played alright in the first half. The energy level was really good and I can't say anything about our lack of effort. In the first half we took a handful of bad shots. In the second half, I don't think we took as many bad shots. We just didn't finish as many plays as we needed to finish.

"There was a little run there where they made a few shots back-to-back and started feeling good about themselves. When you're competing against a player like (Terrell) Stoglin, that's the kind of stuff you're afraid of. We got plenty of shots and opportunities, we just didn't make them.”

On Andre Young: “It hurts when a kid like Andre misses his chance, because you know how much work he's put into it. He wants to win and he wants to be in those situations. He's not going to be OK tomorrow. You want guys like that, because it means he cares. You just hate it for them. We just have to make sure he recovers from it.”

On his message to the team: "The message to our guys is that they can't give up on the season. You're playing well enough and competitive enough that things could go our way. We just have to wait for the situation turn. That's how sports are, but right now we're catching the bad end of it. It's a test of our character as to how we respond. I felt like we were nervous coming into this game. Our guys really wanted to win this one and we entered the game with a good energy. We just have to make more offensive plays, and more stops.”

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon…

Overall: "That's a great win for us. Now we don't have to listen to everyone say `they're going for their first road win.' We got that behind us. I thought we were as good as we have been defensively, executing, and distributing the ball. We got the big lead and then at the 7:33 timeout, I told our guys we had been great for 33 minutes, but we have to play 40. Clemson hit the three coming out that sort of got them going, then we let our offense dictate our defense down the stretch and, in typical fashion, we missed a lot of free throws to make it interesting for everybody.

“In the end, I thought Terrell Stoglin was tremendous and I thought Sean Mosley gave us a lot of quality minutes. We have to rebound a little better, but we followed the game plan. We had certain guys on their team that we wanted to beat us, and our guys followed that plan pretty well for the most part."

On Clemson's one-three-one defense: "They had momentum and the crowd was loud and their length made us very tentative. Against the one-three-one, you just have to space out and make plays. We didn't have a guy that could make a play. The last timeout we ran a play, and got the ball inside and that's what we wanted. It was just a combination of everything."

On Maryland's shot selection: "We talk about valuing possessions and we're not there yet. We screened better and our execution to start the second half was very good. That's how we built the lead. We have to rebound better. When they got offensive rebounds, we just had guys standing there. Our shot selection was spread out, we just have to execute better everywhere else."

Noteworthy…

Nine of Clemson’s 12 losses have been by five points or less, including three setbacks by two points (Boston College, Virginia Tech and Maryland), one by three (Miami) and one by four (Virginia). The Tigers’ other ACC loss came to Duke by seven points.

Clemson has outscored its first nine ACC opponents by 13 points, yet has a 3-6 conference record.

At the midway point of the league season, a group of NCAA Tournament contenders has begun to separate itself from the rest of the pack. North Carolina and Florida State are tied at the top of the standings with 7-1 records, followed by Duke at 6-2, NC State at 6-3, and Virginia and Miami at 5-3. Lagging in the race are Maryland (4-5) and Clemson (3-6), while Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Boston College each had two ACC victories.

Duke has the ACC’s top RPI at No. 3, followed by North Carolina (6), Florida State (18), Miami (38), Virginia (41), NC State (55), Virginia Tech (91), Maryland (99), Wake Forest (137), Georgia Tech (145), Clemson (168) and Boston College (235).