After a fairly inconsistent and at times sluggish first half, the Terrapin men’s basketball team holds a double-digit lead against a less-talented North Florida team.

Despite ugly free throw shooting from forward Jordan Williams, and several turnovers and bad shots from others, the Terps still lead 43-31 against the Ospreys. They are spearheaded by a balanced scoring attack, led by guard Sean Mosley’s 10 points.

Freshman guard Pe’Shon Howard started his second straight game in place of senior guard Cliff Tucker. Neither has really distanced themselves in tonight’s game although Tucker has zero points and two fouls. Howard hit a three-pointer and has five points, two steals and an assist.

The Ospreys do have a hot hand, though, with Parker Smith. The guard has stroked four three-pointers and leads all scorers with 14 points.

Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s basketball beat reporter. Reach him at ceckard@umdbk.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ceckard.

Terrapin men’s basketball forward Ashton Pankey has returned to his New York home to undergo season ending surgery  on his left leg, the team announced before the start of tonight’s game.

The surgery is to correct a stress fracture the freshman suffered last season (as a senior in high school). Pankey played at the tail end the Terps’ first game, but has yet to see the floor since then. He will be away from the team until the start of the spring semester.

Pankey said during Media Day before the start of the season that he was about 90 percent healthy from last season’s surgery. He had hoped to make an impact off the bench as rebounding presence. He should be able to obtain a medical redshirt.

Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s basketball beat reporter. Reach him at ceckard@umdbk.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ceckard.

The Terrapin football team’s Military Bowl victory was the program’s last game with head coach Ralph Friedgen. 

It was their last with junior wide reciever and return ace Torrey Smith as well.

Comcast Sports Net’s Chick Hernandez has reported that Smith will forego his senior season and declare for the NFL draft. According to Hernandez’s Twitter account, Smith made the decision last night. 

The decision comes as little surprise considering the record-breaking season Smith had as a junior. He had hinted throughout the year that he was leaning towards going pro as well. Student radio station WMUC reported last night that Smith would be going pro, a report that Smith refuted via Twitter.

More to come after postgame interviews.

UPDATED: Smith confirmed the report on his Twitter account, saying “I’m forgoing my last year of eligibility to enter the nfl draft #terpnation and all supporters I appreciate your support”

WASHINGTON — Just as the so-called experts called for, we’ve got a barn-burner on our hands, folks!

Or not.

Aside from a handful of big plays — namely, Kevin Dorsey’s 45-yard touchdown grab, Davin Meggett’s 44-yard run and several personal foul calls — neither side has been able to find its groove offensively here inside RFK Stadium.

Danny O’Brien hasn’t found the groove we saw him in at Byrd Stadium against N.C. State a couple weeks ago. Dominique Davis has found receivers, but they’ve seldom been more than a couple yards from him.

The Terps’ defense has been just what defensive coordinator Don Brown looks for in a performance — steady, but disruptive. The explosive Pirates have just 126 yards this half, and their three turnovers have given the Terps great field position. They should consider themselves fortunate the guys in red and white haven’t done more with it.

As for coach Ralph Friedgen’s farewell? He’s been his old self on the sidelines, razzing officials for questionable calls — and there have been a few — and keeping his icy glare on the action before him.

WASHINGTON — We’re live from RFK Stadium, where about the only thing worse than the packed Metro trip here is my obscured sightline inside the press box.

The big news, if you haven’t heard already, is the absence of four Terps from the depth chart due to academic reasons. Starting defensive end Drew Gloster, offensive lineman Pete White, and wide receivers Ronnie Tyler and Quintin McCree are ineligible to play today against East Carolina, the team announced.

Gloster was the lone starter, but White’s absence might be the most important. With him gone, the depth of a pencil-thin offensive line just got even worse off.

Then again, how much might it matter against ECU’s defense, dead last in the country? We’ll see.

Keep checking in here for any updates as they come. Also, follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/jonas_shaffer.

The towering size of the Terrapin women’s basketball team has led center Lynetta Kizer to one realization she willingly offered in the aftermath of another administered beatdown on the boards:

Rebounding in games often is easier than in practice.

But it was the No. 18 Terps’ play between the painted rectangles Tuesday afternoon in Comcast Center that suggested they might have the stature to do something else besides possibly holding the title of nation’s top rebounding team.

With a nine-day break to rest, tinker and fine-tune, the lengthy Terps pressed a hapless La Salle side to exhaustion with an array of looks and an obvious amount of success in an 83-45 win.

The Terps dared the Explorers to go end-to-end against a four-forward lineup that often obscured the path to the basket. Then they dared them to spread the floor over their 1-3-1 half-court press. And just for the sake of normalcy, they sagged back to their normal 2-3 zone when they’d had enough.

“We’ve been able to — with our practice time — get to practice and rep some of our different presses, and it’s really starting to come together,” said coach Brenda Frese, whose Terps face No. 17 St. John’s tomorrow. “I can see our team understanding, and again with our versatility, a lot of players are playing a lot of positions, so to see this coming together is pretty exciting. We can run a lot of looks based on the game.”

Five quick La Salle turnovers helped explain an early 21-4 Terps advantage. So did the seemingly all-encompassing defensive coverage of Kizer and forwards Tianna Hawkins, Alyssa Thomas and Alicia DeVaughn.

When the Explorers (4-7) did break through halfcourt unscathed, they encountered failures to launch. First, Hawkins swatted a shot that never even left the fingertips of a La Salle player. DeVaughn did the same thing moments later.

The Terps’ (11-1) 10th straight win proved to be of their more emphatic this season.

“I felt that the week of finals … I saw some things coming together, and it is fun to really see this team start to jell and click,” Frese said. “Obviously, this is the time that we need to come together.”

The rebounding prowess is already there.

If the suffocating defense arrives as well, the Terps won’t be an easy out upon entry into conference play.

Checking in from my old stomping grounds here at Comcast Center, where the No. 19 Terrapin women’s basketball team is minutes away from a Tuesday matinee against La Salle.

The Terps haven’t played in nine days, but something tells me it won’t make much of a difference this afternoon against the 4-6 Explorers.

This matchup, for all intents and purposes, seems little more than a warm-up to tomorrow’s likely showdown against No. 18 St. John’s, which plays Liberty later today.

Worth noting today, though, will be coach Brenda Frese’s continued use of her “jumbo” package — a starting lineup that includes one guard and four forwards/centers.

Follow along at twitter.com/jonas_shaffer for in-game updates.

With the Terrapin football team taking center stage the past week – including the departure of offensive coordinator James Franklin and the dismissal of longtime head coach Ralph Friedgen – the basketball team has taken an understandable step away from the spotlight.

It’s been 10 days since the Terps last took the court at Comcast, when they fell in the first ACC contest of the season to Boston College 79-75.

The Terps (7-4) should dispatch NJIT (2-6) tonight in front of a dead crowd. The Highlanders have not won on the road this season.

Several notes for tonight’s game:

- Terrell Stoglin has recorded double figures in the past four games and is second on the team with 11 points per game. In the past four games he’s averaged 14.5 points a contest.

- Jordan Williams, who was named on ESPN’s Jay Bilias’ top 25 players of the season so far, posted 27 points and 13 rebounds in a losing effort against the Eagles in the last outing. He has nine double doubles, including five striaght.

- The Terps face NJIT, North Florida and Colgate before traveling to Durham, N.C. to face No. 1 Duke on January 9.

- Dino Gregory is 17th on the program’s career blocks list. He needs three to pass Bambale Osby and four to pass Buck Williams and Nik Caner-Medley.

Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s basketball beat reporter. Reach him at ceckard@umdbk.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ceckard.

“I do have a list, and Mike Leach is on that list.”

That’s a quote from Athletic Director Kevin Anderson’s press conference in which he announced Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen’s contract would be bought out following the team’s game against East Carolina in the Military Bowl on Dec. 29. (Check out the news story in The Diamondback.)

With Friedgen’s imminent departure, rumors have been swirling about who will become the Terps’ next head coach, and I’m praying that Leach gets the job. Anderson said that no one has been contacted yet and that there is no leading candidate. But, when asked who else was on that list, Anderson declined to comment. I’m not trying to read too much into things, but by mentioning Leach by name, without offering any other names, Anderson seems to be tipping his hat.

At Texas Tech, Leach provided some of very entertaining interviews, which I now present to you on Terrapin Trail in no specific order. (Although, the “fat little girlfriends” press conference takes the cake, in my opinion.)

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