Boston College

FRIDAY'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TV HIGHLIGHTS ACC Tourn., Florida State vs. Miami CSN11 a.m. Big Ten Tourn., Iowa vs. Nebraska BIGTEN12:30 ACC Tourn., Duke vs. North Carolina St. CSN2 Big Ten Tourn., Wisconsin vs. Purdue BIGTEN3 ACC Tourn., Maryland vs. Wake Forest CSNP, TCN6 Big Ten Tourn., Ohio State vs. Penn State BIGTEN7 ACC Tourn., North Carolina vs. Boston College ...

The Maryland men's basketball team begins a critical four-game stretch to end the regular season tonight at Georgia Tech. The Terps are sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 7-7 and they have a 19-8 record overall, but they must make a statement in the next two weeks to prevent their NCAA tourney bubble from bursting. Costly losses to Virginia and Boston College have tarnished their tournament resume, scraping the luster off their win over second-ranked Duke at Comcast Center just 11 days ago. I spoke with a pair of bracketologists today who say the Terps face long odds at making the field of 68, but they still have hope for an at-large bid. “They are talented enough to be a tournament team,” ESPN's Joe Lunardi said in a phone interview this morning, singling out Alex Len and Dez Wells for praise in particular.

Mark Turgeon can barely bring himself to utter the words NCAA tournament these days. The superstitious Maryland basketball coach will begin shaking his head before a reporter can complete a question about Maryland's chances of advancing to what Turgeon has euphemistically referred to as the “four-letter word” tournament. While Turgeon considers it premature to speculate on Maryland's prospects, he knows that the team suffered a setback when it lost Tuesday night, 69-58, to a Boston College team that shut down Maryland center Alex Len. “I just don't get it,” Turgeon said afterward.

At least now we know why Maryland coach Mark Turgeon had been so reluctant to speculate about Maryland's NCAA prospects. Even after the Duke win, Turgeon sensed there was far too much basketball left -- too much room for error -- to assume that his team had somehow turned a corner and was pointed toward the field of 68. After watching Maryland's 69-58 loss to Boston College, you get the sense the Terps are a team that can get ahead of itself....

Junior point guard Pe'Shon Howard has been reinstated after being suspended for Saturday's win over Duke and will accompany his Maryland teammates to Boston College for Tuesday night's game. “He's been punished. We welcome him back with open arms,” Turgeon said. “We need a mature, confident Pe'Shon moving forward for us to finish strong.” Asked if he thought not being at Comcast Center for the team's biggest win this season would solidify the message to Howard, Turgeon said, “Yeah, it probably does.

Playing its first game in a week, the 10th-ranked Maryland women's basketball team overcame a ragged beginning against Boston College, rallied to claim the lead for good shortly before halftime and used another flurry after the break to pull away for an 85-62 victory Sunday in front of an announced 5,503 at Comcast Center. Senior forward Tianna Hawkins scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the second half and added six rebounds. The Atlantic Coast Conference's top scorer and second-leading rebounder, she shot 11-for-14 from the field and made all four of her free throws.

Maryland has yet to win an ACC road game going into Wednesday's matchup with Florida State in Tallahassee. In fact, the Terps have won only two of 12 games they have played away from Comcast Center under second-year coach Mark Turgeon. Considering what has happened in the ACC this seaon, Maryland has plenty of company in its road misery. Going into this week, ACC teams have won just 10 of 39 road games in the league this season - including only two of the last 21 played before Tuesday night.

COLLEGE PARK - A few weeks ago, Tuesday night's game against Boston College at Comcast Center appeared to be a breather for the Maryland men's basketball team, the young and undersized Eagles wedged between road trips to North Carolina and Duke. It nearly turned out to be a lot more for the struggling Terps. Going down to the last minute before an announced 13,941 that included 2002 NCAA championship stars Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter, Maryland escaped with a 64-59 victory that helped the Terps avoid their fourth loss in a stretch of five games.

Maryland's recent slump has not been a total shock to second-year coach Mark Turgeon. When he looked at the schedule before the season, Turgeon saw how difficult the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference slate might unfold for a young team. “That was a big concern of mine,” Turgeon said Monday, before Maryland practiced for Tueday's 9 p.m. game against Boston College at Comcast Center. “No matter how hard you coach young kids, the league's new. The beginning of the league schedule was a big concern to the staff and how we were going to handle it.” Maryland has been erratic, at best, its cold shooting and a lack of veteran leadership of late contributing to three losses in four games.