ENGELKE: Penn State proves a cut below

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Was there really any doubt the Terrapin men's basketball team was going to leave Bryce Jordan Center with a win last night?

Sure, some Penn State fans had tried their best to make the game interesting in the days leading up to last night's 62-39 Terp victory, all the while forgetting one thing: It was Penn State basketball they were talking about.

How interesting could it get?

The Nittany Lions went 11-20 last season and won only three games in Big Ten play en route to a first-round loss in the Big Ten Tournament. Before last night's loss, Penn State boasted a 5-1 record light on real substance. Lehigh, Fairfield and Central Connecticut State and Furman were among those victories — not exactly what you would call quality competition.

But that didn't stop an attempt to build hype and boost attendance for yesterday's contest. On Twitter, some Nittany Lion supporters started a social media campaign that came to be known as "Maryland Hate Week."

The idea itself was fine, and school spirit shouldn't be shunned. Penn State, after all, averaged only 8,150 fans per home game in the 15,000-seat Bryce Jordan Center last season.

On Penn State's campus, men's basketball is all but an afterthought, ranking far behind football and perhaps even on par with the women's volleyball team, which is vying for its fourth straight national championship this season.

The effort to generate buzz for a team with little of it was commendable. But it was the things that were said on the social media site that drew the ire of Terp fans and likely made last night's win that much sweeter for them.

Tweets on the #MDhateweek hashtag poked fun at the death of Len Bias, who went into cardiac arrest after overdosing on cocaine two days after being selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft.

"CRAB CAKES AND COCAINE ... THAT'S WHAT M*RYL*ND DOES! #MDhateweek," one fan tweeted Monday, one-upping an earlier post that read: "Len Bias wishes #FourLoko were around back in his day as a nice alternative. #MDhateweek."

Classy, right?

Terp Athletics Director Kevin Anderson thinks "Hey, you suck" and "F--- Duke" are bad. Maybe he should speak to his counterpart in Happy Valley, Tim Curley. I'm sure he's thrilled with what he's seen in recent days.

All of the talk this week, though, couldn't mask what became pretty obvious last night. The Terps, who have as many national championships as the Nittany Lions have NCAA Tournament appearances in the past decade, entered yesterday's game as a clear favorite with a much more distinguished pedigree. Lacking a supportive fan base and needing something — anything — to get students and alumni excited for the game, Penn State took an unconventional and improper approach.

The Nittany Lion fans who started the jokes about Bias got what they wanted — a reaction from a fan base that comprised an announced attendance of 9,078, nearly 4,000 more than their season average entering last night.

The same improvements weren't anywhere to be seen on the court. Except for a 7-0 run to start the game, the Nittany Lions never really threatened the Terps, who committed 17 turnovers and shot just under 49 percent from the floor while still coasting to a 23-point victory.

Simply put, when it came to basketball this week, University Park never came close to College Park, whether it was in talent on the court or class off it.

jengelke@umdbk.com