WASHINGTON -- In Virginia Commonwealth, Maryland faced just the sort of "mid-major" that - like Butler or George Mason - can send shivers through the souls of major-conference opponents. The Atlantic Coast Conference will long remember VCU for its upset of Duke in last season's NCAA tournament.

So Maryland had a sense of what was coming last night - a competitive game (it was) likely to come down to the finish (it did).

Morgan State@Maryland Thursday, 8 p.m., Comcast SportsNet, 1300 AM, 88.9 FM