Hopefully Gary Williams said something to light a fire under the guys' butts to get a better half going...

Aha... Choi was in because Milbourne had 3 fouls; now he's up to 4, so hopefully Choi can do a little something to help the team, seeing as how he will be getting quite a bit of playtime. Someone or something lit a spark, and the Terps are now within 7 points. They are actually scoring and playing good defense once again. Vasquez ends the good vibe; even Bilas commented he is just not doing well tonight at all. It seems as if Maryland's short-lived spark has gone out. The Bearcats are back up with a nice lead, 39-26.

So Maryland has brough the game back to a negotiable lead, but then Cincy scores a three-pointer that puts a kink into things. I was in the process of writing that the lead was under ten, but... well, you get the picture, I am sure.

Padgett and Stephenson played together, and right now I am wishing we had gotten the other Licoln player, because Padgett just can't seem to do much, except give Stephenson an elbow to the face that gets him all in a tizzy. We are back within single digits, and what's a Terp to do? Give up an and-one.

I hate to say it, and I have been delaying it, but it looks like Maryland is facing its first loss of the season. I knew the Bearcats were going to give us trouble, but I can least find some solace in the fact that the Terps were not the only ranked team in the tournament to lose to Cincy. We are losing now by 15 points (55-40). Ugh.

There's really nothing to report. Vasquez has decided to show up, a day late and a dollar short, and will think he's hot stuff because of his 20 meaningless points. The rest of the big scorers have done nothing sensational, with not a single other player scoring at least 10 points. The Terps lucked out with 30 free-throws to Cincy's 10, but missed 14 of them. If these guys could have made their free-throws, the game could have had a totally different outcome, seeing as how the final score to the game was 69-57. I know no team can make 100% of their free-throws during a game, but maybe it could have given them the extra boost of confidence they needed to outscore the Bearcats.

On a funnier note... Stephenson tried a Duke-esque flop to the ground, as if Cliff Tucker's elbow had the insane strength of 20 men, and the ref actually laughed at him. I say penalties for flopping and not acting like a grown man.

Hopefully either Gonzago or Wisconsin will fear the honu, because Cincy didn't.