No, this wasn't Duke or North Carolina playing at Comcast Center on Wednesday night. It's much too early in the season for that.
But, after losing a 16-point lead, Maryland improbably found itself in a competitive game against Mount St. Mary's -- the sort that forced Terps fans in the announced crowd of 9,875 to wake up and chant "Let's go, Maryland," and invest the sort of emotional energy usually reserved for better-known foes.
Maryland's 77-74 victory came only after the Mountaineers, who entered having lost five games in a row, missed two field-goal attempts to try to take the lead in the final 30 seconds.
Maryland had led by 16 before halftime. But the Mountaineers chipped away at the Terps (5-3). Mount St. Mary's (1-7) shot 11-for-21 on 3-point attempts.
"Our ball-screen defense was terrible all night," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "I'm not used to not guarding. This is all new to me."
Turgeon also said the Mountaineers were "fantastic." Mount St. Mary's kept its poise in the second half, nearly pulling off an upset after entering the game averaging 56.4 points.
"I'm not going to say it [the game] is a step back because they played an exceptional game," Turgeon said of the Mountaineers.
Mount St. Mary's took its last lead at 70-69 on a jump hook by forward Raven Barber with 2:53 left.
Two field goals by Terrell Stoglin (23 points) gave Maryland a 73-70 advantage with 1:49 left. But Mount St. Mary's cut the margin to 73-72 and called timeout after a miss by Stoglin with a chance to win.
In the final moments, guard Julian Norfleet (18 points) saw his layup attempt blocked by Maryland's Nick Faust (City) with 16 seconds left, and forward Danny Thompson missed a follow shot.
"I just timed it right," Faust said of his blocked shot. "This definitely was a confidence booster for me," said Faust, who showed renewed swagger in scoring 13 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. He said Turgeon had advised him to drive the ball inside and get to the foul line.
Maryland's Mychal Parker got the rebound off Thompson's miss and was fouled. His free throws made it 75-72. After a dunk by Thompson, Sean Mosley (St. Frances) converted two foul shots for the final margin.
How unexpected was Mount St. Mary's comeback?
The Mountaineers -- playing again without injured forward Ja'Colby Wells -- used only two nonstarters the entire game. "Maryland thought they had problems [with depth], but we have more problems," Mount St. Mary's coach Robert Burke said.
But Burke also said: "We're starting to play better."
Mount St. Mary's had opened the season with a 54-point loss to a strong Marquette team. The Mountaineers, of the Northeast Conference, had been turnover-prone. They averaged more than 20 turnovers in their first six games -- five of them losses. Only two players -- Thompson and Norfleet -- had started all the team's games.
The Mountaineers, playing the Terps for the first time since 2006, had just 11 turnovers Wednesday night.
It was the first of a half-dozen Maryland contests to be played against mid-level teams at home over the next month.
With an inexperienced team, Turgeon conceded he didn't mind a lengthy homestand so that he could continue to work on fundamentals and turn the Terps into a team he can truly call his own.
As Wednesday night's game showed, the Terps can use the work.
"We still have some defensive struggles," said forward Ashton Pankey, who had 13 points and five rebounds. Turgeon had used Pankey for only one minute in the previous game -- a win over Notre Dame.
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