national invitation tournament

It was growing late in the first half and Maryland trailed Niagara by six points. The sparse, fidgety Comcast Center crowd had to be wondering when and if the Terps would check in mentally for their National Invitation Tournament opener.

Coach Mark Turgeon is hoarse with a bad cold, scoring leader Dez Wells has been nursing a sore knee since midway through the ACC tournament, and Maryland has had to get over playing four games in seven days and not making the NCAA tournament.

For the second time in three years, it appears that no Maryland school will be selected for the NCAA men's basketball tournament when the field of 68 is announced Sunday evening.

Every Monday, Baltimore Sun blogger and reporter Matt Vensel will rank the most significant athletes and events in Baltimore sports that week based on accomplishments on and off the field. Because, well, why not?

Maryland's men's basketball season will continue in the NIT, where the Terps are a No. 2 seed and will open Tuesday night at Comcast Center against seventh-seeded Niagara of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

There were plenty of competing feelings as the Terps quietly packed up their gear Saturday to leave Greensboro Coliseum, their home for four days.

Forget Duke. Maryland's poison this season was North Carolina, which used its quick-strike offense to run the gritty Terps out of their best ACC tournament since 2009.

Dez Wells is a sophomore but played for Xavier last season. A handful of other players in Maryland's regular rotation — four freshmen and transfer Logan Aronhalt — are also making their ACC tournament debuts.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, Matt Vensel of The Baltimore Sun hopes to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger. This week, he exchanged emails with Dave Tucker, who writes about Maryland basketball for Testudo Times.

Roger Dickens, Charlie McNeil and Lefty Grove are part of The Sun Remembers This Week in Sports for March 3 to March 9

Mark Turgeon expects Maryland to play in postseason, but he's not sure if it'll be NCAA or NIT

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports.

Don Markus takes a closer look at the Maryland basketball team's upset of No. 2 Duke.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports.

Maryland's recent slump has not been a total shock to second-year coach Mark Turgeon. When he looked at the schedule before the season, Turgeon saw how difficult the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference slate might unfold for a young team.

Key recruiter and teacher coached Maryland in double-overtime loss to Miami last season after Mark Turgeon's ejection

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has already built a reputation as a motivational speaker, but now he'll get paid for it

Loyola's game against Bucknell could have NCAA Tournament implications

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports.

It seems to be happening to Maryland over its past two games, sloppy and sleep-inducing victories over South Carolina State and Monmouth.

Eric Hayes spent the first two years after graduating Maryland in 2010 playing basketball in three different countries and moving closer to his ultimate goal ¿ becoming a coach like his father, Kendall, who had coached for years in Northern Virginia and stopped to watch his son play for the Terps.

Drexel sophomore Damion Lee has been selected to The Baltimore Sun's Sweet 16.

UMass forward Terrell Vinson has been selected to The Baltimore Sun's Sweet 16.

Matt Bracken goes 1-on-1 with Loyola Greyhounds basketball coach Jimmy Patsos.

The Ravens¿ fearless leader has been seen many times barking last-minute instructions and words of wisdom at his teammates before they take the field. And this week, Lewis is in London ¿for a three-day minicamp with the London Warriors of the BAFA National Leagues,¿ according to a report by CBSsports.com.

Sports notices for Howard County

Devon Branch picked Oregon over offers from Kansas State, Rutgers and Virginia Tech, among others. He is ranked the No. 30 junior college prospect in the country by JUCOJunction.com.

Ray Lewis gives motivational speech before Stanford game

Monroe C. Brown Jr., a standout basketball player at Aberdeen High School in the late 1980s and later at Penn State, died suddenly at his Havre de Grace home March 9.

No postseason tourney for Maryland

Turgeon is off to a good start with Terps

Confidence and ambition weren't enough for Maryland to overcome fourth-ranked North Carolina, which again used fast breaks effectively in an 85-69 victory that was its third win over the Terps this season.

Loyola men's basketball beats Niagara in MAAC tournament first round

Turgeon wants Terps to be more rugged on the road. Maryland. Maryland coach implores his team to ignore the postseason chatter, focus on winning Saturday at Georgia Tech.

Morgan State officials to discuss men's basketball coach Todd Bozeman's future

Sports notices for Howard County

Sports notices for Howard County