Maryland has plenty of motivation

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Maryland won't be lacking incentive when Clemson visits Comcast Center tonight. A chance to all but clinch an NCAA tournament bid, atone for an upset by the Tigers and gain momentum for the season's finish should help the Terrapins end another stretch of erratic play.

The Terps (16-8, 7-6 ACC) aren't concentrating on the NCAA bid yet. Instead, avenging the season's low point -- an 88-73 loss at Clemson on Feb.1 -- is paramount. The Tigers (12-13, 2-10), the only ACC team with a losing record, led Maryland by 20 during the first meeting.

It was an embarrassing defeat, especially since it came two days after the Terps beat then-No.22 Georgia Tech and less than a week after they upset then-No.2 Duke. Maryland went from a season high to rock bottom that carried over into another loss at Miami four days later.

Maryland now comes off a 92-89 double-overtime victory at Virginia on Saturday. With No.2 North Carolina arriving Sunday before Maryland finishes the season at Virginia Tech on March5, the Terps want to ensure themselves of an NCAA bid while proving Clemson's victory was a fluke.

"Your adrenaline is pumping more than for a regular game," forward Travis Garrison said yesterday. "You take things personally, and I run off that steam. Clemson beat us bad down there. They embarrassed us. ... Now we get to play them at home, and the results have to be different."

The Clemson loss was a classic "trap" game. The season's shortest turnaround meant going back on the road immediately after beating the two ranked teams (at Duke and at home against Georgia Tech), and it didn't help that four players had the flu or food poisoning. Maryland's energy seemed to vanish after it took an early 23-22 lead.

"[Clemson] was a game you could see coming," coach Gary Williams said. "It was a tough situation, and we didn't play well. We just didn't play hard. That wasn't characteristic of this team. Players remember that. You don't have to go into much detail [before the rematch]."

Maryland needs the victory to stay ahead in the tight ACC race for fourth place. The Terps must finish in the top five to get a first-round bye in the conference tournament at MCI Center on March10. Otherwise, Maryland would have to win four games to successfully defend its tournament title.

Maryland is tied with Virginia Tech (14-10, 7-6) for fourth, with Georgia Tech (15-8, 6-6), Miami (15-9, 6-7) and N.C. State (15-10, 5-7) close behind. Maryland has the tiebreaker over Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech but loses out against Miami and N.C. State.

Charting the Terps' momentum has been tricky. Maryland hasn't won three straight ACC regular-season games in two seasons but also hasn't lost more than two straight this year. Garrison conceded he had reservations about saying the team finally had regained its stride by beating Virginia.

"I've said this before: I think so," he said. "[Clemson] will definitely give us a hint where we're at. The double-overtime win over Virginia showed how hard we can play and how good we can be. We should be pumped up because [Clemson] beat us at their place. We should be energized."

Maryland is finally healthy after a series of minor injuries and illnesses to several starters. Forward Nik Caner-Medley expects Maryland to finish strong.

"We've had some ups and downs in terms of physical stuff, but we got through a lot of that stuff and can just worry about playing ball," he said. "We don't have anybody sick or any bumps and bruises. It looks like things are panning out for us right now."