A return to form in ugly fashion

It wasn't pretty. In fact, for large stretches Saturday, it was downright ugly. But ugly proved enough for the Terrapins men's basketball team, as it survived a sloppy second half against Virginia Tech to improve to 3-3 in conference play.

While coach Mark Turgeon would no doubt have enjoyed a more complete effort — one that didn't include a dwindling lead and a slew of missed free throws down the stretch — he recognized the importance of a win like Saturday's.

Because the Terps are never going to win pretty. They're a young team, and for every flash of brilliance you'll see, you're likely to see plays that have the Comcast Center faithful scratching their heads and Turgeon looking like his head is about to explode.

But it's games like Saturday's that can bring a team together, and the constantly improving product on the court has Turgeon and the Terps believing they can prove the naysayers wrong.

"I think it's a lack of concentration, which I think is because of a lack of experience and the gumption to get it done at a high level," Turgeon said after the 73-69 win. "I hope that the things you're seeing us do this year you won't see us doing later this year or in the future. … It's a good win from a young team."

The Terps came out of the gates strong, riding the combination of solid defense and a putrid Hokies offensive attack — Virginia Tech shot 24 percent from the field in the first half — to a 32-19 halftime lead.

And while coach Seth Greenberg's squad found its rhythm a bit in the second half, the Terps were able to match that output, thanks to guard Terrell Stoglin's 21 second-half points, and carry a 10-point lead into the game's final five minutes.

Which is when their mettle was tested. The Hokies started running the floor, notching more field goals (seven) in the final 3:02 than the six they had in the entire first half.

And the Terps just couldn't put them away. Freshman guard Nick Faust missed the front end of two separate one-and-one trips to the free-throw line, and Stoglin similarly clanked three pivotal free throws down the stretch.

Senior forward Sean Mosley was tagged with a questionable flagrant foul around the three-minute mark, a call that turned into three points for the Hokies.

Stuff like that probably would have derailed the Terps two months ago, when they looked like a high school team for stretches of their trip to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in November.

They were far from perfect on Saturday, but they never trailed. They found a way to win.

"I think we're starting to mature, slowly but surely," said Mosley, the Terps' unmistakable court general.

"We're a young team, but that's not an excuse," added Stoglin. "We just need to finish the game."

There's no doubt about that: The Terps need to be better down the stretch, because they don't have many games left against middling teams like the Hokies.

Still, they got the win, and credit's due to Turgeon and the Terps for a season that could be shaping up as one which exceeds most expectations.

"I don't want to brag about them too much, because we've had three games in one week and we lost two of them," Turgeon said, "[but] it's a lot more fun to be around and it's a lot more fun to coach."

cwalsh@umdbk.com