For Terps, a task too tall

Staring down one of the country's best players, his knees bent in a defensive stance, Nick Faust showed no signs of weakness, no hesitation.

The Terrapins men's basketball guard did everything he could guarding North Carolina forward Harrison Barnes with just more than a minute left in Saturday's game. His hand remained squarely in front of the star's face as Barnes rose and smoothly released a jumper.

But for everything Faust exhausted on that play, he came up short: Barnes hit the dagger at the top of the key.

And for everything the Terps did and tried Saturday, they ultimately came up short as No. 5 North Carolina snatched an 83-74 victory in a packed Comcast Center. Barnes and the Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 ACC) just had too much talent, too much length and too much experience.

"I'm proud of our guys. They worked so hard," coach Mark Turgeon said. "But there is a fine line between winning and losing and right now, we're on the wrong side of that line."

Days after an emotional double-overtime loss at Miami, the Terps (13-9, 3-5) returned home to face the most talented team in the conference. For the first 30 minutes Saturday, they held tough, making shots, playing with defensive intensity and limiting the Tar Heels on the boards. With 10 minutes left in the half, they led by as many as nine.

But they could never run away from North Carolina, which slowly seized the lead and then the game in the second half. Barnes' jumper proved too much, putting the Tar Heels up 76-70 with 1:02 remaining. It came just after Terps guard Terrell Stoglin missed a 3-pointer early in the shot clock, a play that left Turgeon displeased.

"I was disappointed with some of the things that we did down the stretch," Turgeon said.

Stoglin scored a team-high 20 points on 21 shots, but missed eight of his nine 3-point attempts as he matched up against 6-foot-7 Reggie Bullock much of the game. Redshirt freshman center Alex Len built off his strong performance at Miami with a 12-point, nine-rebound game against the Tar Heels.

Turgeon said he thought the game was lost on the boards, though, despite Len's efforts. With two and a half minutes left, the Tar Heels had four different shot attempts on one possession before forward John Henson sank a jumper to give North Carolina a 74-69 lead.

"It's really simple," Turgeon said. "I've never had more trouble getting a team to be more physical on box outs. We've worked on it. We talk about it. We were on it every day. Some of it is going to be their length, but a lot of it is going to be us not competing on the glass when we need to compete."

North Carolina had a 46-39 advantage in rebounds, spearheaded by Henson (12 rebounds), Barnes (eight) and forward Tyler Zeller (seven). The three also scored a combined 57 points.

"They had a lot of second shots," guard Sean Mosley said, "and that's probably what cost us the game."

Said Turgeon: "There's a reason they're the preseason No. 1 team in the country."

The Terps held a 40-37 halftime lead behind a balanced scoring attack. They forced seven turnovers in the first 12 minutes but struggled against Zeller, who scored 14 points in the half.

Yet for all the Terps did well Saturday, they left with another disappointment. They've now lost five of their past seven games and have yet to beat a ranked opponent this year. They are 0-10 against ranked teams in the past two years combined.

"It hurts right now," Mosley said. "I can say we're getting better and better and better, but we're not winning. That's the most important thing right now. We're not coming out of the locker room with a win. We're coming out with a loss."

A Henson dunk put the exclamation point on the victory with a second left on the clock and the Tar Heels' win already sealed. He motioned toward the crowd as he ran off the floor.

It was a moment that stuck with the Terps after the game, and a moment they may carry with them for the foreseeable future. Saturday proved the Terps have the drive to win, just not the talent to compete yet with the nation's best.

"I didn't like the dunk," Turgeon said. "Coach [Roy Williams] knows that. But we're going to be good soon. The world goes around."

ceckard@umdbk.com