Cliff Tucker

Finally, Maryland could exhale. Finally, the Terrapins — who have had a propensity this season for losing close games and missing foul shots — could relax, knowing they overcame both troubling tendencies in the same game. Finally, free throws became Maryland's friend instead of foe. The Terps, who entered Saturday's game last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in free-throw percentage (63.1 percent), converted 12 of 15 in the final four minutes to preserve a much-needed 79-77 victory over Clemson.

— 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...

Senior guard Malcolm Delaney had said before traveling here with his Virginia Tech teammates that Maryland "might have the worst fans ever. " Predictably, Delaney was serenaded with boos from the student section before and during the game. But the best revenge for fans -- the reply they really counted on -- would have been a Maryland victory. That didn't happen, as the Hokies scored the game's first 12 points and weathered a second-half Maryland run for a 74-57 victory. Delaney, meanwhile, scored 19 points.

On Dec. 8, Maryland center Jordan Williams expressed frustration that his team had kept coming close to upending nationally ranked opponents without breaking through for wins. Five weeks — and one more defeat to a Top 25 team — later, the sophomore found himself wearing the same pained expression and singing the same refrain. "We're looking for that one big win," Williams said after the Terps defeated struggling Wake Forest to push their record to a respectable — but not glowing — 11-5 (1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference)

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.

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 sophomore center Jordan Williams had missed his previous nine free throws when he stepped to the line for the final time with 2:29 remaining in Wednesday's game against North Florida. Williams' free throw struggles have been well documented this season and when he finally made his first free throw of the night with the game all but over, the announced crowd of 13,894 at Comcast Center offered a mock cheer for the Maryland big man. The problems that plagued the Maryland men's basketball team for much of its early non-conference schedule returned Wednesday, causing an 85-62 win over the Ospreys to feel much less decisive than the scoreboard showed.

— In a season in which a young Maryland men's basketball team has trudged through its early nonconference schedule with a lineup full of uncertainty, change was inevitable. When coach Gary Williams removed senior guard Cliff Tucker from the starting lineup in favor of freshman Pe'Shon Howard prior to last Wednesday's victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology, it marked the first time this season the coach strayed from his usual starting five. With Tucker struggling in the team's previous five games, the time was right for a move, Williams figured, and it paid dividends.

Already once this season, Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams has voiced uncertainty regarding his starting lineup. There have been games in which the team's three senior starters — Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie and Dino Gregory — have failed to produce consistently and convincingly enough to warrant a spot on the floor. After his team dropped its Atlantic Coast Conference opener 10 days ago with another disappointing showing from its upperclassmen, Williams did not hesitate to make a change.

Maryland, which didn't lose an Atlantic Coast Conference game at home all last season, dropped its first conference game of the new season, 79-75, to Boston College despite a career-high 27 points from center Jordan Williams. The Eagles won by shooting 7-for-12 on 3-pointers in the second half. They made 13 3s in the game. With the Terps trailing 78-75, Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin (14 points on 6-for-17 shooting) missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 17 seconds left.