As pointed out on the first page of today’s men’s basketball notes page, the Terps will play 12 teams this season that are currently receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press poll.
One of those is the Tribe of William & Mary, tonight’s opposition.
The home team will put its three-game losing streak on the line in a tough match-up against the CAA upstart.
Coach Gary Williams has had this date circled on his figurative calendar since the Terps fell to then-No. 3 Villanova on Dec. 6, essentially assuring it would finish its non-conference schedule without a resume-building victory. At the time, Williams mentioned this game.
Yesterday, Williams and his players again made it known that the Tribe won’t be sneaking up on them in this one. Tonight, his squad will get the chance to knock off a team that has won eight straight and is just starting to gain some national attention.
As of Sunday night, the Tribe (8-2) is ranked 7th in RPI thanks to key wins against Wake Forest, Richmond and VCU, according to www.collegerpi.com. The Terps (8-3) checked in at 95th at that point, with their best win coming against Indiana.
It’s probably not fair to call the Terps underdogs heading into this contest, but it should be an interesting match-up.
Guard Greivis Vasquez, who is a single field goal away from surpassing 1,700 total points in his career, will need to continue his recent hot-streak that’s included 24.3 points per game in the team’s last three contests. Perimeter defense will also be a point to watch against the Tribe, which is off to its best start in more than 30 years.
Guard Sean Mosley, who missed Sunday’s win against Florida Atlantic, is in uniform and is currently warming up with the rest of his teammates about 20 minutes until game-time. Mosley was dressed against the Owls as well, but yesterday, Williams was optimistic Mosley will be ready to go.
It doesn’t look like there will be anywhere close to a full house here at Comcast Center on this second-to-last night of 2009, but it’s slowly starting to fill up.
Check back for more later, here and at www.diamondbackonline.com.
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.