ENGELKE: For men's basketball, a step forward

The Terrapin men's basketball team needed to win Saturday's game against Wake Forest, and there was no way it was going to lose.

Not after suffering the program's largest margin of defeat in Comcast Center history against Duke on Wednesday.

Not with Wake Forest, the worst team in the ACC and possibly all the sport's major power conferences, as its opponent.

And certainly not with coach Gary Williams at the helm compelling his players to forget about the Duke loss and move forward.

"This is a game we had to work hard to get ready for after the last game," the 22nd-year coach said. "You go through getting probably as low as you can get during a season, and then you got to get it back to where you can play, and play with a lot of energy.

"Coaching-wise, I take a lot of pride in being able to do that. But you want to make sure that the players do the same thing because they're the ones that have to play, not me."

Williams' message was well received by players, who realize their chances of making the NCAA Tournament are now hanging by a thread. Just days after Wednesday's 18-point loss to Duke, a sense of urgency was evident in the Terps' 91-70 win over Wake Forest.

"We have to win all our [remaining] games," guard Adrian Bowie said before Saturday's blowout. "We've lost too many games as it is."

"We don't have a lot of margin for error," forward Dino Gregory added.

But don't put too much stock into the sizable victory.

A loss to the Demon Deacons would have been crippling to the Terps' postseason hopes. A win? Well, it just keeps them alive as they wait to play better competition — Boston College, Virginia Tech, Florida State and North Carolina — in the next few weeks.

The win shouldn't be glorified. It was simply something the Terps needed to do, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

"This was a must-win game," Bowie said. "We had to win by all means necessary. If we had to dive on the floor, jump in the crowd — you got to do anything possible."

The Terps used a complete team effort to top the Demon Deacons. Paced by forward Jordan Williams, who tied a career high with 27 points, three Terps scored in double figures, and nine total players recorded at least three points. The Terps also tied a season high in assists with 27.

"We've got to start doing this against Duke and teams like Virginia Tech, Boston College and teams we lost to," Jordan Williams said. "We've got to figure it out, and once we figure that out — and I think we're starting to — I think we'll be all right."

Entering the latter half of their ACC schedule, there's very little room for error for this Terp team. And although Saturday's opponent was a weak Wake Forest team, they did what was necessary before moving on to their next game Wednesday night, when they'll face a similarly inferior opponent in Longwood.

"Every game now is just crucial," Jordan Williams said. "We've got to play hard every game."

If the Terps come out with that same must-win mentality Wednesday, expect a similar result to the one against Wake Forest — a necessary victory that doesn't necessarily boost the Terps' NCAA Tournament resumé but at least keeps their postseason hopes alive.

With what's at stake, the Terps can't afford to lose.

jengelke@umdbk.com