Cliff Tucker

To warm up for fifth-ranked Duke, Maryland fans jubilantly practiced new cheers, donned free gold T-shirts and were told by coach Gary Williams how much he appreciated their devotion to his team. The fans -- who seem to reach for new decibel levels whenever the Blue Devils are in town -- couldn't have been more primed. But the Terps -- eager for a win against a top team that had beaten them in seven of the past eight meetings -- couldn't contend with Duke's size and inside-out balance and lost, 80-62.

— Another bad start by Maryland and Gary Williams' head might have exploded. Another loss at home for the Terps after that ugly 17-point pasting they took from Virginia Tech Thursday and their fiery coach might have thrown himself into traffic on Route 1. That's how desperate the situation had become for Maryland, which was without a win over a quality team and very much on the bubble of going to the NCAA Tournament — even if...

After dropping both games of last weekend's 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, the Maryland men's basketball team chalked up its trip to New York as a learning experience. The Terps vowed to fix their poor free-throw shooting, stay out of foul trouble and find a secondary option to lessen the burden on leading scorer Jordan Williams. In Tuesday's nonconference matchup with Delaware State, the Terps made good on all three promises, disposing of the Hornets, 72-54, before an announced 12,178 at Comcast Center.

As usual, the Duke fans lay in wait Sunday night for Maryland and coach Gary Williams at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "Sweat, Gary, sweat," the Cameron Crazies chanted to the perpetually restless coach. But this time, the Terrapins made No. 1 Duke sweat. The Terps, led by Jordan Williams (23 points, 13 rebounds), hung in with the larger, undefeated Blue Devils before falling, 71-64. It was Duke's 25th straight win. Maryland's victory in March on Senior Night at Comcast Center was Duke's most recent loss.

Adrian Bowie winced as if he'd just eaten a sour grape. It was late January, and Maryland's senior guard was talking about missing the NCAA tournament in his freshman year and playing in the NIT instead. "We don't want to be there again," Bowie said. "It was horrible. " If Bowie and fellow seniors Dino Gregory and Cliff Tucker need any more motivation in the final six regular-season games, they only need to recall how it felt missing the party in 2007-08, when the Terps went to the NIT. Maryland made the NCAA tournament the next two seasons.

Not since Drew Nicholas beat UNC Wilmington in 2003 had a Maryland Terrapin hit a buzzer-beating shot of the sort that Cliff Tucker rained down on Georgia Tech on Saturday before a frenzied sellout crowd at Comcast Center. Tucker's heroics might not have come in the NCAA tournament as Nicholas' did, but the junior guard's corner jumper carried its own set of circumstances that made it an instant classic. Tucker's 3-pointer -- the buzzer sounded while the shot was in the air -- beat Georgia Tech, 76-74, to keep Maryland undefeated (6-0)

This one was Maryland's final tuneup -- a chance to iron out the wrinkles of a somewhat underwhelming monthlong homestand against mainly nonconference opponents. To their credit, the Terps could easily have overlooked Colgate on Tuesday night, a team with only one win this season, with a showdown with No. 1 Duke looming Sunday. Instead, Maryland did exactly what it was supposed to do, engineering a thorough dismantling of the Raiders, 95-40, before an announced 12,814 at Comcast Center.

Maryland had one more opportunity Friday night to get it right, one precious chance -- in a meaningful game in March -- to finally claim a memorable win against a ranked team while retaining a shred of hope of securing an NCAA tournament berth. After having gone 0-6 against Top 25 teams, the Terps fell, 87-71, to No. 5 Duke in perhaps the costliest loss of all because it ended their ambitious goal of winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament as a seventh seed and claiming the conference's automatic NCAA bid. It was a rough, contentious, quarterfinal played in front of a heavily pro-Duke crowd.

LAHAINA, Hawaii - -At worst, Maryland's full-court press serves as a life preserver, an effective means of evening the playing field on a night when its opponents hold critical advantages. At best, it is a tool capable of causing a foe to self-destruct. Against a Cincinnati squad fortified with an abundance of physical, athletic weapons, the Terrapins' press fell into the former category - prolonging No. 21 Maryland's hopes for as long as it could, but eventually succumbing to circumstances out of its control.

COLLEGE PARK - - After nine weeks of nonleague play, the Maryland Terrapins craved the higher stakes and fan excitement of the opening of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. As Maryland raced to a 16-point lead against No. 18 Florida State, it was as if the Terps saved two months of pent-up energy for Sunday night. Led by senior guards Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes, the Terps (10-4, 1-0 ACC) played their most energized half of the season, then weathered a pair of comeback attempts by Florida State for a 77-68 victory.