Down by one with time running out, Greivis Vasquez crossed half court and launched a desperation heave. As it hit the backboard and went through the net roughly half of the sellout crowd at the Comcast Center celebrated the apparent victory. The rest knew that it didn’t count. Just before he released the ball the Maryland bench had called timeout.

So with 1.5 seconds left and the ball near half court the Terps found an unlikely hero, Cliff Tucker.

And that’s why Gary is a genius. During the timeout he drew up a play that no one was expecting.

Eric Hayes had 15 points and hit a three to give the Terps the lead with 1:20 to go. Gary has him inbounding the ball.

Vasquez scored 18 and had become Maryland’s fifth all-time leading scorer earlier in the afternoon. And don’t forget his half-court heave seconds before. Gary uses him as a decoy running past midcourt and away from the basket.

Landon Milbourne is the second-leading scorer for the season. He sets a pick for Vasquez at half court and is no factor in the play.

Sean Mosely might be the best pure shooter on the team. He’s on the bench.

Dino Gregory meanders to the top of the key and stands there.

Cliff Tucker had only played nine minutes and made just one field goal so far. When the Terps absolutely had to have a big shot he’s the only player going towards the basket and getting into position to shoot. Pure genius.

Last season the play would have failed and “fans” would be calling for Gary’s head. What a difference a year makes.

The win puts Maryland (19-7, 9-3) in sole possession of second place in the ACC one game behind Duke. The Terps host the Blue Devils on March 3.

As the celebration died down Coach Williams was asked if he had seen Tucker hit a shot like that in practice, or anywhere else. After a long pause and a near chuckle Williams answered, “I saw him today.”

Greivis says the rankings are this far apart.

ESPN.com (Andy Katz)
Summer Bracketology (Joe Lunardi)
Top 40 (Dick Vitale revised his list after initially leaving Maryland out. To be fair, it’s probably hard to type while blowing Coach K.)
SI.com (Luke Winn)
CBSSports.com (Gary Parrish)
Sporting News (An inside source)
FOXSports.com (Jeff Goodman)
CollegeHoops.net (Shawn Siegel)
Rivals.com (Some Idiot)
ACC Preview: Jay Bilas predicts the conference (ShootAround)

Half-Empty Sub-headline: 11-point Underdog Maryland Looks to Get to .500

Half-Full Sub-headline: Maryland Looks to Stay Perfect, Alone in First Place in ACC Atlantic

Here’s everything you need to read before the 6:30 kickoff in Winston-Salem.

This game actually matters (Testudo Times)

Mr. Maryland died this week (Bleacher Report)

How things change without Da’Rel Scott (Washington Times)

Maryland’s defense making strides (Baltimore Sun)

Nine reasons the Terps will make a bowl game this year (Bleacher Report)

The predictions aren’t good
ESPN ACC Blog
CollegeFootballNews.com

The win over Clemson came at a huge cost. Maryland’s All-ACC running back Da’Rel Scott broke his forearm and is done for the year.

Davin Meggett will now be the feature back. Freshman Gary Douglas, who played in multiple series yesterday, should get significant time. And I think Morgan Green is still alive.

Clemson kicker Richard Jackson (19) reacts after missing a field goal against Maryland during the fourth quarter. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

With about four minutes to go in College Park Saturday Clemson kicker Richard Jackson drilled a 48-yard field goal to tie the game. Only he didn’t. Just before the snap Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen had called timeout. After the break Jackson missed wide right.

The Terps fumbled the ball on the next play and with 2:43 left on the clock Jackson had a shot at redemption. Another 48-yard attempt, another one wide right.

Bullets dodged.

It was a rare afternoon this fall. The breaks went Maryland’s way and they held on for a 24-21 win over Clemson.

Maryland’s defense played their best game of the year not giving up any points in the second half and not allowing Clemson to reach the end zone after the first quarter. The Tigers only second-half points came on a C.J. Spiller kick-return touchdown. The Terps limited Spiller to only 79 yards from scrimmage on the day.

Torrey Smith had three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown and added 100 yards on four kick returns.

The bad news for Maryland, Da’Rel Scott had three carries for zero yards and was carted off the field with his left wrist in an air-cast.

With the win Maryland is now in first place in the ACC Atlantic division. The Terps travel to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest next Saturday at 6:30 pm.

Maryland freshman center Jordan Williams was one of five people arrested in his hometown of Torrington, Conn, over an alleged incident in August. Williams has been charged with breach of peace and assault.

Williams is expected to contribute to the Terps immediately. He was ranked #85 among national recruits by Rivals.com and plays a position that was a weakness for Maryland last year.

Gary Williams released a statement this afternoon:

We are aware of the situation and are monitoring any changes. We will let the judicial system run its course before making any decisions. Any discipline coming from the campus will be in accordance with our Student-Athlete Code of Conduct.

Before each game we’ll give Five Reasons to Be Concerned, Five Reasons to Feel Good, and The Absolutely 100% Guaranteed Prediction.* We gave you the bad stuff, then the good stuff. Now here’s this week’s pick.

Why Rutgers Could Win
They owe Maryland one. Two years ago Rutgers made the Top 10 for only the second time in their history, and then promptly lost to Maryland in Piscataway.

This year, after a bad loss in week one they’ve won two in a row. They haven’t looked great, but they’ve won.

Why Maryland Could Win
This is the kind of game in which Ralph Friedgen and Chris Turner shine. As soon as you count them out, they win. If Fridge can’t rally the troops this week the season may be lost.

The Absolutely 100% Guaranteed Prediction*
Two weeks ago we told you Maryland would score 35 points and in regulation they scored 34. Last week we told you Maryland would score 31 and they scored 31. Call your bookie.

The SWAGLESS prediction:
Maryland 23, Rutgers 20.

* Guarantee not valid in Piscataway or anywhere else

Midnight Madness is only three weeks away. Here’s what’s happening with the Terps.

Lindy’s College Basketball preseason magazine named their top programs of the decade. Guess who made the top 10.

Sporting News named their top shooting guards in the country. Guess who made the top two.

Coach Gary Williams got a one-year contract extension.

Fanhouse has a good post about the new Len Bias documentary.

Gary was on a local radio show this morning and they started talking about his Twitter feed. Gary admitted that a staffer does the typing for him so they asked if he knew what the messages were called. He did not. They told him they were tweets and he replied, “How can you be a man …” Which reminds me, did you know you can follow SWAGLESS on Twitter? Were @SWAGLESSNetwork

“Gary” tweeted an update on former Terps now playing overseas. Here’s his list:
Dave Neal – Ireland
James Gist – Italy
Bambale Osby – Romania
Parrish Brown – Mexico
Mike Jones – Romania
Travis Garrison – Turkey
DJ Strawberry – Italy
Jamar Smith – Italy
Chris McCray – Italy
Nik Caner-Medley – Spain
John Gilchrist – Australia
Ekene Ibekwe – Turkey
Ryan Randle – France
Drew Nicholas – Greece
Lonny Baxter – Greece
Terence Morris – Spain
Rodney Elliott – France
Sarunas Jasikevicius – Greece

Before each game we’ll give Five Reasons to Be Concerned, Five Reasons to Feel Good, and The Absolutely 100% Guaranteed Prediction.* We gave you the bad stuff. Now here’s the good stuff.

1. Rutgers Is Bad Too
The Scarlet Knights are 2-1 but the wins are a rout of Howard and an 8-point win against Florida International. The loss was 47-15 embarrassment at home against Cincinnati.

2. Torrey Smith
The WR and kick returner is a STAR. Last week he had five catches for 165 yards and two TDs. If they double him a deep receiving corps gets more opportunities. If they try man coverage he could have another huge day.

3. Turner Loves Rutgers
His career really started in the 2007 game at Rutgers. RU was ranked #10 at the time, Chris Turner came in for an injured Jordan Steffy and led the Terps to the 27-17 upset. Since then he has started 23 of 24 games for Maryland.

4. History 201: The Meaning of 1-2
Under Ralph Friedgen, the Terps have started 1-2 three times before this year. In ’05 they struggled to a 5-6 record. But in ’03 they rallied to go 10-3 and destroy West Virginia 41-7 in the Gator Bowl. In ’02 they finished 11-3 and beat Tennessee 30-3 in the Peach Bowl. I’m not saying that they’ll win 10 games this year, I’m just saying that Friedgen knows how to turn it around.

5. The Rutgers QB
When the season started fifth-year senior Dominic Natale was the QB, but after a horrible first half against Cincinnati he was replaced by true freshman Tom Savage. Savage played well against Howard and Florida International but was hurt late in the FIU game and is questionable for the Maryland game.

* Guarantee not valid in Piscataway or anywhere else

Before each game we’ll give Five Reasons to Be Concerned, Five Reasons to Feel Good, and The Absolutely 100% Guaranteed Prediction.* As always, we start with the bad stuff.

1. Cal
The Terps opened the season on the west coast playing a team they beat last year. Granted, the Golden Bears are a better team than they were a year ago, but a 52-13 loss was a horrible way for a young team to get started.

2. James Madison
Maryland needed a late TD to tie the game and then a field goal (one that snuck inside the left post before taking a harsh left turn and barely hit the net) to beat an FBS team 38-35 in overtime.

3. Middle Tennessee State
A revenge game against a team from the Sun Belt Conference that beat the Terps in ’08. Maryland got the early lead but couldn’t hold it. They had the lead and the ball in the final two minutes but couldn’t hold it. They needed one stop from the defense but couldn’t get it. MTSU kicks a field goal on the final play of the game and beats Maryland 32-31.

4. 122 and 2
Maryland’s defense has given up 122 points in three games. In the one game against a BCS conference team they allowed 52. In two games against an FBS team and a team from the Sun Belt Conference they’ve given up 35 and 32. Can the new defense stop anyone?

Maryland’s All-ACC running back Da’Rel Scott fumbled twice in the MTSU game. He spent the fourth quarter of a one-point game on the bench watching Davin Meggett get the carries. Coach Friedgen says he hasn’t lost confidence in Scott. Can Scott regain his own confidence and lead the Terps?

5. No One’s Going to See the Game
For the third time in four games the Terps are not on TV. Seriously, isn’t this 2009? How can the only real college football team in a top ten TV market never be on TV? And the Washington Post reports that no one is going to the games at Byrd either. You know things aren’t going well will local papers are calling an ACC school a mid-major.

* Guarantee not valid in Piscataway or anywhere else