With Hokies up next, men's basketball looking to move past Duke

Pe'Shon Howard had already taken off his commemorative Under Armour shoes featuring Gary Williams' signature and matching black and gold socks before he addressed the media in the moments after Wednesday night's loss to No. 8 Duke.

After another emotionally taxing loss — the Terps' third straight — it was a sign, small as it might have been, that the sophomore point guard had already moved on.

His words that followed reflected the same attitude of his coach, Mark Turgeon, who preaches an even-keeled attitude at all times. With a crucial home game against Virginia Tech tomorrow, Howard said the Terps just hope they can put their losing streak to rest and forget their recent shortcomings.

"When we get to practice [today], Coach Turgeon will make sure we're prepared," Howard said Wednesday night. "He's the king of not getting too high and too low. That's something that's instilled in our team. We can't get too low after a loss and too high after a win."

For all the good that came from Wednesday night's 74-61 loss to Duke — an impressive perimeter defensive effort, a commitment to the team's game plan — Howard and his teammates know it wasn't enough.

Even as reporters peppered the Terps (12-7, 2-3 ACC) with questions about the so-called moral victories taken from such a result, Howard held firm in his attitude toward the loss and the need to move forward from it.

"At the end of the day, it's still just one game," Howard said. "We have to play a good Virginia Tech team that beat a very good Virginia team. Our conference is still wide open, and we're all packed in together. We can't let one game affect us."

Still, Turgeon remained optimistic for a second straight game. Despite their foul-shooting woes and moments of offensive confusion, the Terps stuck with a top-10 team for most of the game.

"If you could have been in Puerto Rico, you would have never thought that we could play like we're playing right now," Turgeon said. "What I saw tonight was encouraging. We followed the game plan a lot better than we have defensively. We're growing up. We didn't win, but we hung around."

The Terps, though, have been plagued by stretches where their offense all but disappears. They failed to score a field goal in three separate stretches of at least four minutes against the Blue Devils.

After guard Nick Faust hit a jumper that barely bounced in midway through the second half, the Terps' offense went silent. During that time, Duke built up too big of a lead to overcome in the final few minutes, mirroring the Terps' loss at Temple the game before.

"I think it is more of who we are," Turgeon said. "We are a young team, we are inexperienced, we make mental errors, and we don't make free throws. You may ask if it is an offensive problem or defensive problem — I think it is an everything problem."

The Terps will look to start addressing it against the Hokies, who won both of their games against the Terps last season, including an emotional eight-point win in Blacksburg, Va., that all but shut the door on the the Terps' NCAA Tournament hopes.

But Virginia Tech (12-8, 1-4) isn't the same team it was last season. The Hokies dropped each of their first four ACC games and five of their last six overall. Their one win during that stretch, though, came against then-No. 15 Virginia.

The Terps want to take advantage of the remaining home games they do have in conference and catch their ACC record from slipping further below .500. Tomorrow's game against the Hokies provides the opportunity for Turgeon and his team to put aside the what-ifs of Wednesday's loss and start answering other questions.

"If we want to feel good about any progress," guard Sean Mosley said, "we have to come out with a win at the end of the day."

ceckard@umdbk.com