In Greensboro, it’s go time

Heading down to Greensboro, N.C., for his 22nd ACC Tournament as the Terrapin men's basketball coach, Gary Williams perfectly understands the near-impossible task in front of his team: win four straight games.

No team since the conference expanded in 2005 has ever advanced from the opening round to win the 12-team tournament. But Williams and the No. 7 seed Terps (18-13, 7-9 ACC), stuck in the rut of a three-game losing streak, believe they can make history.

They'll test that ambition starting tonight against No. 10 seed NC State, which they haven't lost to in five years. But given the disastrous end to their regular season, the Terps enter the tournament ominously as an unknown quantity featuring a lagging defense and an up-for-grabs lineup.

After the Terps lost by 14 points to Virginia on March 5, Williams conceded any chance for an at-large bid was effectively booted. The Terps now need to secure the ACC's automatic bid in order to play in the NCAA Tournament. And with last week's surprising losses to Miami and the Cavaliers, the Terps may even be clawing to get home-court advantage in the NIT.

"Win four," Williams said Saturday. "I think where we are right now, realistically, though I've heard 100 teams are on the bubble. We might still be on the bubble. I have to check."

The Terps' senior class has won only two games in the ACC Tournament in its previous three tries. Both came in 2009, when the team defeated the Wolfpack before unseating a ranked Wake Forest team to earn an NCAA Tournament berth.

Building on that performance, Williams said, is certainly possible.

"I thought we had to win two games in '09 to have a chance for the NCAA Tournament, and we did," Williams said to the media Monday. "I've always been big on that. If you do have a positive experience, you use that as a way to justify having it again. You can talk about hope. Once it happens, you have legitimate reason to think it can happen again."

Still, the Terps aren't bringing any momentum into the tournament this year. Aside from losing three straight games, all by double digits, the Terps haven't had any consistent producers aside from All-ACC first-team selection Jordan Williams and All-ACC freshman-team selection Terrell Stoglin.

Not surprisingly, Gary Williams still hasn't found his optimal lineup combination. In the days leading up to the tournament, the Terp coach left the door open for any player to seize a starting spot. At this point in the year, such an opportunity is nearly unprecedented.

Still, his players have visions of hoisting the championship trophy come Sunday.

"One thing about the ACC tournament, everybody's starting 0-0," guard Pe'Shon Howard said after the Virginia game. "You look at the women's [ACC] tournament or any other tournament. Things don't go the way that the seeding says. We've just got to be positive, stay together and don't listen to anybody else."

The Wolfpack (15-15, 5-11) provide a nice jumping-off point for the Terps, who cruised to a win in Comcast Center in the teams' last meeting, on Feb. 20, despite the play of NC State freshman forward C.J. Leslie (18 points).

Should the Terps' senior class remain undefeated against NC State, a matchup with No. 2 seed Duke looms tomorrow. While the Blue Devils are 8-1 against the Terps in the past four years and one of the favorites to win the tournament, a win against No. 6 Duke probably wouldn't even put the Terps on the NCAA Tournament radar.

It's a tough predicament for the Terps, but one they're slowly coming to understand.

"I'm just trying to keep them up," Williams told the media in Greensboro yesterday. "Anything can happen. If you win the first one, there's a snowball effect that can happen."

ceckard@umdbk.com