Lahaina, Hawaii- A lot went wrong in that first half for the Terps, in what was essentially their first half of the year against a legitimate opponent.

They hit just one field goal in the final nine minutes of the half and just seemed out of sorts offensively.  They shot just 27 percent from the field and much of their offense consisted of players driving wildly into the lane before having to kick it back out while in the air or force a shot.

On defense, Landon Milbourne and Jordan Williams got into foul trouble, trying to handle Cincinnati bigs Yancy Gates and Steve Toyloy. They’ve yielded nine points to Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson. And they’ve been outrebounded 24-16.

On the last play of the half, Stephenson hoisted a shot toward the hoop that was altered by Cliff Tucker and Dion Dixon swooped in to grab the ball and flick in a quick shot as the buzzer went off for a 31-18 halftime lead. It was that kinda half.

There’s probably not much coach Gary Williams can tell his No. 22 Terps other than that, luckily, there’s still 20 minutes of basketball left.

To comeback, the Terps will probably need Greivis Vasquez (2-of-8 shooting in the half) to get on track and Milbourne (3 fouls) and Williams (2 fouls) to play some quality minutes without picking up more fouls.

Cirque Polynesia is performing at halftime, which consists of a pair of girls doing hula hoop tricks. That’s a good show. But this second half should be, too.

Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.

Lahaina, Hawaii- If you’ve watched ESPN’s coverage of this year’s Maui Invitational, you’ve probably seen an interview or at least a gratiuitous “celebrity sighting” shot of former Wake Forest and South Carolina coach Dave Odom.

The 67-year old took over as the tournament’s chairman this season and he’s been very hands-on during the first few days of the tournament.

I talked to him two weeks ago in advance of the Terps’ trip here to get another perspective on how a veteran coach prepares a team for this trip.

As for his new gig, which earned him a trip to Maui last Monday, Odom said he was honored to get the call for the position that’s been held down by just two people in the past: former Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke and most recently Dave Gavett, one of the Big East’s founders.

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Lahaina, Hawaii-The Terps appeared on a collision course with No. 24 Vanderbilt in the second round of the Maui Invitational.

But that changed Monday afternoon when upstart Cincinnati (3-0) knocked off the newly ranked Commodores in an ugly contest in which the teams combined to shoot 34 percent (41-119).

“We finally played defense in a game like we’ve been playing in practice,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said.

Playing the Bearcats will give the Terps an upclose look at freshman Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson, James Padgett’s high school teammate who had the Terps on his shortlist before his recruitment stretched into the summer and he ended up at Cincinnati for his presumed one-year college stay.

That’s going to be one of the bigger storylines, but the Bearcats bring more than that to this second round match-up.

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Lahaina, Hawaii-All 12 Terps who made the trip to Maui saw game action in the their 79-51 first round win against Chaminade.

That included forward Jin Soo Choi and center Steve Goins, who returned to the lineup after injury.

Choi played for the first time since spraining his right ankle in the season-opener. The sophomore played the final 6:02 after the Terps had the game safely in hand and later scored his first basket of the season.

Goins, who’s been slowed by a lingering knee injury and a one-game suspension for missing class, made his season debut. He entered a little bit later than Choi and finished a putback late in the game.

In the end, the only Terp not to score was walk-on Ersin Levent, who recorded just two minutes of playing time.

Being able to empty your bench in a rout against a Division II team is not exactly quality depth, but getting some adequate big guys back who could come in handy in case of foul trouble or injury is at the least good news.

Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.

Lahaina, Hawaii- Terp coach Gary Williams made sure to give a lot of credit to the Silverswords after this one.

And they deserved it after matching the Terps shot for shot for a lot of the first half. Chaminade also brought an environment Williams likened to a road game even though the “home” team had a 25-minute flight to Maui. The Terps finished the half up just 10, and even that was their largest lead at the time.

But with some better defense and a few shots in transition the Terps ultimately ended up where you’d expect them to be–with a blowout win.

“It’s not always we did something wrong,” Williams said. “They’re a good team. They made shots. They did a good job. That’s all.”

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Lahaina, Hawaii- One of the mottos of the Maui Invitational is “Sun, Surf & Hoops.”

I haven’t seen much except the last one for the last few hours as Gonzaga came back to top Colorado and Cincinnati outmuscled Vanderbilt. And the best match-up on paper hasn’t even happened yet. (That’s Arizona-Wisconsin, which tips after the Terp game.)

But it’s almost time for the Terps to go against the Division II tournament hosts from Honolulu. It’s the lone first round game relegated to ESPNU tonight, if that tells you anything about it.

The Terps are trying to earn a second round date with the Bearcats (and former Terp recruiting target Lance Stephenson) tomorrow at 7 pm Eastern on ESPN.

It’s expected that the Terps will have the full complement of players who made the trip tonight.

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As I mentioned in my Maui preview, the Terp men’s basketball team comes into today’s event as the slight favorite in an uncharacteristically weak field. Consider that last year eventual national champion North Carolina won the tournament.

Last week the Terps were the lone ranked team in the field, but in the new poll released today, the now-No. 21 Terps have company.

Vanderbilt, 1-0 and a possible second round Terp opponent, has moved up to No. 24. Gonzaga, 2-1 with a close loss to No. 2 Michigan State, is the last team out of the poll.

Add in perrennial tournament teams Arizona and Wisconsin, which meet tonight at midnight Eastern time, and the Terps will have their work cut out for them to win this tournament and remain ranked going forward.

 ”When you go out to tournament’s like that, you always want to win,” guard Adrian Bowie said last week. “There’s a lot of great competition there. That’s why we go out there, just to play against the best teams-and win.”

Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.

Chaminade coach Matt Mahar recognizes the impact that the Maui Invitational has on his Division II basketball program.

Players who agree to become a Silversword not only get the chance to spend four years in sun-splashed Honolulu, they also get four chances to make a national splash at the annual preseason tournament on their neighboring island.

“They want the chance to go against the big dogs every year,” Mahar said.

According to lore, a lot of the motivation for starting the tournament came after Chaminade, then an NAIA school, knocked off then-No. 1 Virginia led by mighty Ralph Sampson in 1982 when the Cavaliers made a stop on the island.

Since the Silverswords recorded one of college basketball’s greatest upsets, Chaminade has had considerably less success in the November tournament.

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These guys are proof I've arrived in the 50th state.

Sorry for the cliche post name, but it’s been a long day.

After a long day of traveling that included layovers in Chicago and Honolulu, I’ve arrived in Maui in advance of tomorrow’s Maui Invitational where the Terp men’s basketball team will meet Chaminade. Assuming the Terps take care of business against the Division II Silverswords, they will play the winner of Vanderbilt/Cincinnati on Tuesday.

So far, Hawaii has been a mixed bag. Maui is the whale capital of the world, according to at least one promotional magazine I thumbed through. And I’m very anxious to check out the quaint 2,400-seat Lahaina Civic Center tomorrow. Also, everything from gasoline to Gatorade is about a dollar more expensive here than it is in the College Park area. For what it’s worth, I’ve also gathered that Mahola means thank you from spending several hours in Honolulu’s airport.

Since the Terps shipped out for this island paradise on Saturday, they’ve come up short in an X-Box competition that was won by Vanderbilt and held a press conference earlier today. If I can gather anything interesting out of either of those events, I’ll toss up some updates.

Check back tomorrow for some other relevant posts before the Terps take on the tournament hosts.

But right now, setting my biological clock for journalistic success is more important than getting to them tonight.

Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.

Contrary to popular belief, the Terrapin wrestling team’s upset of No. 4 Cornell was not the only wrestling the team did this weekend. One day after their upset in Cornell’s Friedman Wrestling Center, the Terps returned to the scene of the match as they competed in the Body Bar Invitational.

The tournament was interesting in the sense that each weight class was essentially its own tournament, much like an open tournament. But each wrestler was also scoring points for their team and schools were competing against one another as well.

Although they didn’t win this tournament, the Terps had a good showing, finishing tied for second with Cornell behind champion Kent State. Individually two wrestlers Josh Asper and Hudson Taylor, were champions. Mike Letts and Pat Gilmore both finished second at their weight classes.

Keep in mind the team outcome could have been significantly different if either Alex Krom or Steve Bell had competed. Both former All-Americans were invited to the NWCA All-Star Classic today on campus at Cal State Fullerton.

But while all that is well and good, the real story of the weekend remains Friday night’s hype-vindicating win over Cornell in front of a raucous crowd.

Keep in mind the Terps were losing 17-9 with just two weight classes left, but Hudson Taylor came out and pinned his opponent and in the best match of the night, heavyweight Pat Gilmore came from behind to give the Terps the victory…in overtime no less.

I caught up with Coach McCoy as broke down each match individually with him. I have transcribed these conversations and added analysis where needed. So read on to relive the win over the higest ranked opponent in school history.

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