Terrell Stoglin

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon made an interesting disclosure at today's session with the media in advance of Saturday's game against Samford. The first-year coach nearly didn't start his team's leading scorer, Terrell Stoglin, against Albany Wednesday because of the sophomore guard's lack of commitment to playing defense. At the team's shootaround earlier in the day, Turgeon told Stoglin that he would be coming off the bench for the first time since the season opener. After the workout, Stoglin asked his coach why. "I said, 'I don't think you can guard anybody on their team,'" Turgeon recalled.

After covering three North Carolina wins over Maryland this season, I'm ready to move on. I've seen the movie now, and I know how it ends. Give Maryland credit for believing they could win. That's the arrogance of youth. And I mean that in a positive way. “We had a lot of confidence, especially when the game was close,” said Terrell Stoglin, who scored 30 points and shot better than 50 percent for the second straight day. “We thought we was going to make another run and take the lead.” But Maryland's initial optimism meant that the Terps were awfully disappointed when the 85-69 contest was over.

Sometimes, a basketball season becomes a blur. One game starts to blend into the next until they are practically indistinguishable. That's what's happening this season. The reason? The Terps keep committing similar sorts of errors, particularly on the road. Lack of inside toughness, not enough sharing the ball. There is a sameness to the road losses. I guess the young, depth-challenged Terps are who they are. I noted in my game story that Mark Turgeon delivered his post-game remarks with his head lowered and in an almost disbelieving tone.

You had to wonder how Maryland would respond one game after a loss at Duke that seemed to frustrate most everybody. The game at Cameron had been the first of the ACC season without injured point guard Pe'Shon Howard. Terps coach Mark Turgeon said his team had barely been able to execute a play without the floor leader. And, of course, it had ended with Terrell Stoglin sulking on the bench and tweeting about it. After the Duke game, Turgeon -- who said he should have been a psychology major -- talked to his team about acting more like a "family.

Mark Turgeon started three guards -- Terrell Stoglin, Nick Faust (City) and Sean Mosley (St. Frances) -- against Northwood along with forwards James Padgett and Ashton Pankey. Pankey, who missed his senior year in high school and freshman year at Maryland with a recurring leg injury, continued against Northwood what Turgeon said he had been doing in practice. He had three early baskets on simple post-up moves. Turgeon had also mentioned to the media Thursday how much better he was shooting the ball in practice.

The Terps miss Pe'Shon Howard. Badly. Without a true point guard, and Terrell Stoglin getting the majority of minutes at the point, Maryland's offense is mostly Stoglin launching questionable shots and the Terps' big guys -- and swingman Sean Mosley -- getting on the boards. New coach Mark Turgeon benched Stoglin at the start of Sunday night's game against UNC-Wilmington, but quickly realized that he needed somebody running the offense after the Terps had an offensive foul, a questionable long jumper by freshman Nick Faust and a turnover.

The Terps are down at halftime, 34-27, and here are a few reasons: FIU had gone up 34-23 with 1:23 left in the half after a 13-1 run, but Terrell Stoglin was fouled on a 3-point shot and the player who fouled him, Jeremy Allen, was called for a technical. Stoglin hit four of five free throws, and neither team scored again the rest of the half. Stoglin leads the Terps with eight points at the half, but is shooting just 1-for-8 from the field, several of the misses more reminiscent of the ill-advised shots the sophomore guard was launching earlier in the season.

"It would have been that next step for us," Mark Turgeon said after Maryland's double-overtime loss to Miami -- a game that saw the Maryland coach ejected after picking up two technicals. The media knew what Turgeon meant. Before leaving for Miami, the coach had said the team needed two things to continue on an upward arc: *A road win. Maryland is now 0-4 in away games. *A road win against a team the Terps are not supposed to beat. Miami is a solid, experienced team led by junior guard Durand Scott, who had a fabulous game.

If a team builds a pair of nine-point leads in the first half, does that count as an 18-point lead? Maryland did that against Illinois tonight at Comcast Center, but after the first nine-point lead (29-20)  disappeared in a quick 9-0 run, the Terps took another (34-25) before going into their lockerroom ahead by four, 35-31. Actually, the Terps played some of their best basketball of the season early on, showing patience against a physical Illini defense and getting the ball inside to James Padgett, who scored his team's first six points and finished the half with nine.

Coaches are fond of saying that one game is no bigger than another. I don't always believe them. Mark Turgeon conceded tonight what seemed to be true -- that Maryland's win over Wake Forest meant a lot. It wasn't just that it was Maryland's first conference win of the season. It's that if this season is to matter -- if it is to become something -- then the Terps have to begin to define who they are. And when better to do that than in the first ACC contest at Comcast Center? As I said in my updated game story, Turgeon believes his team is playing better - particularly defensively - than earlier in the season and he wants his players' efforts to be validated.