It’s tough enough going back to a beat after an 11-year break and trying to figure out who’s who on the Maryland basketball team. In my mind, No. 32 is Joe Smith, not Jerome Burney, and No. 22 is Keith Booth, not Adrian Bowie.

So you can imagine walking into the locker room after Wednesday’s night win over Savannah State and not seeing a single nameplate or picture above the dressing stall. Talk about taking down the decorations right after Christmas.

Gary Williams didn’t wait that long.

Right after the Terps lost to American, bringing their losing streak to three, Williams took away the nameplates, pictures and even the practice jerseys to send a message that his players obviously weren’t getting.

This is how frustrated Williams had become: He had to play the kind of mind games that Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski are masters of. Some might consider it an act of desperation for a team Williams hadn’t yet found.

"Hopefully they [the players] knew I hadn’t done it before," Williams said. "You can’t do it every year. Guys would go, ‘Oh he’s taking the things down.’ I did it that time just to show we’re not supposed to play like we did. It wasn’t about losing, it was playing like we did. There’s a big difference."

The Terps showed a lot more heart in their romp over Savannah State than they had in awhile, but Saturday’s game on the road against Charlotte will show whether or not Maryland will be at all competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

-- Don Markus