KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- After Maryland was ripped by St. John's in their South Regional semifinal, a few Terps commented in the locker room that the team was either too calm or not ferocious enough to deal with an opponent that simply played tougher.

"We didn't come out to play," said senior point guard Terrell Stokes.

"If you don't play hard the whole game, you can't get over the hump," said Steve Francis.

It wasn't always a matter of effort, but of execution, as the Terps tightened up against a zone defense. St. John's coach Mike Jarvis tried that tactic early in the game, then returned to it to overcome a 19-18 deficit.

The Red Storm's zone took away the Terps' backdoor cuts, one of their most effective weapons this season. Maryland did not dunk until the 31st minute, when Lonny Baxter finished in transition. The norm was a contested shot, as St. John's defense did in Maryland.

"No matter what defense you go to, you always go back to man-to-man defensive principles," Jarvis said.

"Against Samford [his first-round opponent], our goal was not to give up any layups. Against Maryland, our goal was not to give up any lob dunks. If you can take away what a team is trying to do offensively, you have a tremendous advantage."

Watkins an exception

The only Maryland player who seemed comfortable at the offensive end was reserve forward Brian Watkins, who didn't even play in the second-round win against Creighton.

Watkins made good on all three of his field-goal attempts. Take away Watkins and Maryland shot a miserable 31.6 percent from the field.

When Baxter drew two fouls in the first three minutes, coach Gary Williams inserted Mike Mardesich, but the sophomore continued his shooting struggles and didn't play in the second half.

Faced the music

The Maryland band and its veteran director, Richmond Sparks, did their best last night to help the Terps against St. John's. But nothing seemed to cure all that ailed this highly touted team.

Sparks and his band used a clever ploy early in the game in an attempt to get the Tennessee fans in the crowd behind Maryland and it worked briefly.

The band played the always-popular Tennessee state song of "Rocky Top," which drew a standing ovation from the Volunteer fans along with all the cheers from the Maryland crowd, prompting the Terps to fight back for a 19-18 lead with 8: 26 left in the first half.

But when St. John's closed out the first half with a 20-0 run for a 38-19 lead, the band was rendered helpless, even though it later played "The Tennessee Waltz."

Et cetera

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford and his assistant, Tom Mickle, were among the swarm of people waiting outside the Maryland locker room in the aftermath of the loss. Swofford and Mickle wore solemn looks on their faces after watching the second of three ACC teams in the NCAA fall unceremoniously. Now only Duke remains to carry the ACC banner; Mickle is a former sports information director for the Blue Devils. The last state team to advance to a regional final was Navy, in 1986, when David Robinson and the Mids were bombed by Duke, 71-50, in the East final. Stokes had seven assists, giving him 213 for the season and 590 for his career, both No. 2 on Maryland's career lists. Laron Profit didn't get a basket in the second half, but seven points gave him 1,566 for his career, 10th all-time at Maryland.

Pub Date: 3/19/99