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Bob Haynie: Terps Looking To Make A Run At The Postseason

The Maryland Terrapins defended their home court on Thursday night with a convincing 81-65 thumping of Boston College at the Comcast Center.

Terrell Stoglin led the way with 24 points as Maryland bounced back from a 73-55 loss at Duke.

With the win, the Terps improved to 15-10 overall and 5-6 in the ACC. At 5-6, they are tied with Clemson for seventh-place in the league.

Seven teams from the ACC will not be making the Big Dance.

So that means Maryland is going to have to close out strong if they want to shock us all and make the NCAA Tournament.

With five games left in the regular season, coach Mark Turgeon's crew has only two home games left, February 21st against Miami and then the season finale on March 4th against 22-ranked Virginia. It's a no-brainer to say that those are must-win affairs.

But Maryland's quest for, at least, an NIT bid begins Saturday in Charlottesville against the Cavaliers.

If the Terps could manage to pull off that upset, they would then have winnable games against Miami and on the road against hapless Georgia Tech.

A trip to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina would be next. Even though winning that contest is not impossible, it is improbable.

Maryland would wrap up the season with the rematch with Virginia.

If they finish 4-1, their regular season record be 19-11 and 9-7 in the ACC. That still might not be good enough to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA's. A win or two in the ACC Tournament may be still needed.

Now, do I think Maryland will go 4-1 down the stretch? Nope. They are too inconsistent and too inexperienced.

A trip to the NCAA tournament still appears to be a long-shot. An NIT bid, however, looks to be a realistic goal.

And a postseason trip of any kind would be a great accomplishment for Turgeon and his team.

The next couple of weeks should be interesting for the Maryland Terrapins and their fans.

BH

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