Honorable Mention: College Lacrosse scrimmage-Penn State @ Johns Hopkins (Saturday 1pm Homewood Field); Mount St. Mary’s @ UMBC (Saturday 1pm UMBC Stadium); Boxing: Friday Night Fights-Isaac Chilemba vs. Edison Miranda (Friday 10pm from Las Vegas live on ESPN2), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Marco Antonio Rubio (Saturday 10pm from San Antonio live on HBO); Women’s College Basketball: Boston College @ Maryland (Thursday 7pm Comcast Center), Maryland @ Georgia Tech (Monday 7pm from Atlanta live on Comcast SportsNet); Soccer-MISL Norfolk SharX @ Baltimore Blast (Wednesday 7:35pm 1st Mariner Arena); High School Basketball: Perry Hall @ Eastern Tech (Wednesday 6:30pm), Perry Hall @ Patapsco (Friday 7pm); Pro Wrestling: Ring of Honor (Saturday 7pm Du Burns Arena)

10. Lacuna Coil (Tuesday 7pm Rams Head Live), Sebastian Bach (Thursday 7pm Rams Head Live), Jimmie’s Chicken Shack (Saturday 7:30pm Rams Head Live), Third Eye Blind (Monday 6:30pm Rams Head Live); Dierks Bentley (Sunday 3:30pm Recher Theatre); Rise Against (Sunday 7pm Patriot Center); Augustana (Saturday 8pm 9:30 Club), Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (Sunday 10pm 9:30 Club); Marc Broussard (Tuesday 7:30pm Birchmere), Yardbirds (Monday 7:30pm Birchmere)

If Jimi Haha is reading this, can you please leave me two for Saturday night? Thanks…

Third Eye Blind had way more good songs than you realize they did…

I heard a guy on 98 Rock say the other day “if you need your face rocked clean off, Rise Against is the way to go.” He might have been right…

Here’s Bone Thugs n Phil Collins. Not only did this happen, but I really enjoyed it.

9. Demetri Martin (Friday 8pm Warner Theatre); Carrie Fisher “Wishful Drinking” (Tuesday-Sunday France-Merrick Performing Arts Center-Hippodrome); Chocolate Affair (Thursday 6pm Baltimore Waterfront Marriott Hotel)

Carrie Fisher is coming to town. This is a fantastic time to remind everyone that Adrianne Curry once dressed up as Princess Leia…

I would follow this up with another thought, but clearly my brain is no longer in operation.

Tipping Off: Maryland snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 13-7 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, while Virginia Tech fell to 12-9 and 1-5 in the conference … the Terps also snapped a two-game losing streak to the Hokies and now lead the all-time series 28-10, including 18-4 at home.

Stoglin Hits 20, Moves Up List: Terrell Stoglin reached the 20-point mark for the 14th time this season. Stoglin led all scorers with 28 points on 9-of-21 shooting. Maryland is 10-4 when Stoglin scores 20 or more. The sophomore also connected on four 3-pointers to move up to a tie for 17th on Maryland’s career 3-pointers made list (tied with John Gilchrist at 85).

3-Point Prowess: Virginia Tech entered the game leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.251), but Maryland was able to connect on 41.2 percent (7 of 17). Terrell Stoglin was 4 of 10, Sean Mosley was 2 of 4 and Pe’Shon Howard was 1 of 3.

Pankey Just Misses Double-Double: Ashton Pankey was in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game and had another solid performance. After contributing eight points and eight rebounds against Duke, the redshirt freshman had eight points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds today. It’s the third time this season the redshirt freshman has reached double figures in rebounds. The 11 boards tied for the most by a Terrapin this season (Alex Len at NC State, Pankey vs. Iona).

3,000: After logging 32 minutes today, Sean Mosley became just the 21st player in Maryland basketball history to play 3,000 minutes in his career. Mosley has played 120 games in his career, 96 of them starts. He scored 15 points for his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season and 43rd of his career.

First-Half Notes: Maryland held Virginia Tech to just 19 points on 24 percent shooting (6-25) in the first half. It’s the second time in conference play the Terps held their opponent under 20 points in the first half (also Georgia Tech with 19) … Terrell Stoglin was Maryland’s leading scorer with seven points, and seven of nine Terps that saw action scored at least three … Maryland held a 10-6 advantage in points in the paint.

Second-Half Notes: Terrell Stoglin scored 21 points in the half, the second time in his career he has scored 20 or more points in one half (also vs. Colorado, 2nd half) … Sean Mosley had nine of his 15 points including five clutch free throws in the last 1:09 … Maryland was outscored 28-10 in the paint and 14-2 in bench points … both teams shot 50 percent … Maryland made 15 of 21 free throws (.714).

Trends: Maryland improved to 13-2 when making more free throws than its opponent (22-15) … the Terps are 11-1 when outrebounding the opponent … Maryland is now 4-0 when holding its opponent to under 40 percent shooting.

Tidbits: Maryland used a starting lineup of Pe’Shon Howard, Terrell Stoglin, Sean Mosley, James Padgett and Ashton Pankey for the second straight game … Maryland opened the game on an 8-2 run and never trailed … the Terps’ largest lead was 15 (in the 2nd half).

Maryland (12-4, 2-1) at Florida State (11-6, 2-1)
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 | 9 p.m. | Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Fla.
ESPNU | Terrapin Sports Radio Network

Georgia Tech (8-8, 1-1) at Maryland (11-4, 1-1)
Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 | 4 p.m. | Comcast Center
ACC Network-WNUV 54 locally in Baltimore
Terrapin Sports Radio Network

Maryland plays host to Georgia Tech in the second of back-to-back home games early in the Atlantic Coast Conference season. The Terrapins and Yellow Jackets are in a pack of league teams in the middle of the standings at 1-1. Each team won their most recent outing with Maryland winning at home 70-64 on Wednesday over Wake Forest and Georgia Tech winning Wednesday at NC State, 82-71.

The Terrapins are finishing a run of home games that had them playing only two games away from Comcast Center over a long period. The Terps played at Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C., in a win over Notre Dame on Dec. 4, 2011, and traveled to NC State on Jan. 8, 2012 to open their ACC schedule. Surrounding those two trips, Maryland played 10 home games, and comes into this afternoon’s matchup with the Yellow Jackets with a 9-1 mark at home this season. The schedule evens out over the next 1-1/2 months as eight of Maryland’s next 13 games are away from Comcast Center.

Maryland has won eight of its last nine games in a stretch dating back to the 78-71 win over Notre Dame on Dec. 4. During that time, the Terrapins have been playing considerably more of a Mark Turgeon-style by concentrating on defense and rebounding. Maryland has held opponents to just 67.3 points per game and .420 shooting from the floor. The Terps have held a plus-8.3 per game edge in rebounding and have out-boarded eight of their nine opponents in that streak.

Maryland is also taking strong advantage of the addition of sophomore point guard Pe’Shon Howard and redshirt freshman center Alex Len. Howard leads the team with a 4.8 assists-per-game average and has been on the floor an average of 31.8 minutes per game since his return. In his five games, Len has missed only eight shots from the floor (.729, 21-for-29), averaged 11.8 points per game, grabbed 7.4 rebounds per game and blocked 2.4 shots each outing.

Junior forward James Padgett continues to lead the ACC in offensive rebounding and is sixth in the nation in that category. Among his 96 rebounds in 15 games this season, 63 have come off the offensive glass (66 percent). Padgett had 11 points and eight boards (six offensive) in 19 minutes on Wednesday in the win over Wake Forest.

Sophomore guard Terrell Stoglin led the Terrapins in Wednesday’s win over Wake Forest with 20 points. It marked the 11th time in 15 games this season that Stoglin has hit the 20-point plateau. He remains the ACC’s leading scorer with a 21.3 points per game average. Stoglin has 38 3-pointers this season, already tied for sixth with Duane Simpkins (1994) on the sophomore list of 3FG. Greivis Vasquez hit 64 treys in 2008 to hold the school record by a sophomore.

The matchup with the Yellow Jackets is the first of two this season. Maryland returns the home game in a Feb. 25 trip to Atlanta. Maryland, which holds a 38-34 edge in the all-time series with Georgia Tech, has won 10 of the last 11 in the series. Maryland had a nine-game winning streak against the Yellow Jackets snapped in the 2010 ACC Tournament in a 69-64 loss before winning in Atlanta, 74-63, in last season’s only meeting between the teams.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech is 8-8 with a 1-1 mark in the ACC after picking up an 82-71 win at NC State on Wednesday… The Yellow Jackets had lost four consecutive prior to the win over NC State, dropping games to Mercer, Fordham, Alabama and Duke… Brian Gregory is in his first season as head coach after spending the previous eight seasons at Dayton.

Glen Rice Jr., a 6-foot-5 junior guard, is averaging a team-best 14.4 ppg and is shooting 51.8 percent from the field, which ranks fifth in the ACC… Rice has come off the bench the last three games and poured in 28 points vs. Duke and 22 against the Wolfpack, making 7 of 10 shots at NC State as Tech shot 51 percent as a team…

Rice was one of five Yellow Jackets to score in double figures in the win over NC State – guards Mfon Udofia (17), Brandon Reed (12) and Jason Morris (10), along with center Daniel Miller (10) helped make up a balanced scoring attack… Udofia leads the team with 40 assists and ranks second with 11.2 ppg, while Miller is averaging a team-best 6.8 rpg and ranks second in the league with 45 blocks…

Georgia Tech is one of the better teams on the boards in the conference, outrebounding its opponents by an average margin of 6.6 rpg, trailing just North Carolina (plus-12) and NC State (plus-6.7)… The Yellow Jackets are also third in blocked shots (5.7 bpg) and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.385).

Upcoming

Maryland hits the road for its next two games, having to face a tight turnaround after the Georgia Tech game on Sunday. The Terrapins will practice Monday, then fly to Tallahassee that night in preparation for a 9 p.m. tipoff Tuesday at Florida State… Maryland faces its last non-conference matchup of the regular season on Saturday, 1/21 against Temple in The Palestra…The Terrapins return home for two games the next week, playing host to Duke on Wednesday, 1/25 on the night when Gary Williams Court is dedicated and Virginia Tech on Saturday, 1/28…
Maryland has only three home games and six road contests in the month of February.

Wake Forest (10-5, 1-0) at Maryland (10-4, 0-1)
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 | 7 p.m. | Comcast Center
RSN/CSN-Plus | Terrapin Sports Radio Network

The Wake Forest game on 1/11 will begin at 7 p.m. due to television commitments, a departure from Maryland’s normal 8 p.m. weeknight starts. Fans are encouraged to arrive on campus early and to pay attention to area traffic reports. Campus Public Safety officials suggest avoiding the Campus Drive entrance off U.S. Route 1.

Maryland returns to Comcast Center for the first of back-to-back home games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents when it plays host to Wake Forest on Wednesday night. The Terrapins lost their ACC opener at NC State on Sunday, 79-74, while the Demon Deacons won at home, 58-55, over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Redshirt freshman center Alex Len earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors on Monday after posting his first career double-double against NC State. Len had 12 points and 11 rebounds against the Wolfpack, also adding two blocked shots. In his four games so far, Len has missed only six shots from the floor (20-for-26, .769) and is averaging 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Sophomore guard Terrell Stoglin continues his hot streak for the Terrapins. He had six 3-pointers against the Wolfpack, marking the third time in the last four games he’s had six treys in a game. Stoglin has moved into second place in the league in 3-point percentage (.429) and third in the ACC in 3-pointers per game (2.6). He is 20-for-36 (.556) behind the arc in the last four games.

Stoglin remains atop the ACC in scoring, now with a 21.4 ppg average. He is sixth in the nation in scoring through last Sunday’s games, and has scored at least 20 points in an ACC-best 10 games this season. His +9.8 improvement in scoring average from a year ago is also tops in the league this season.
 

Senior forward Sean Mosley had 12 points Sunday against the Wolfpack, marking his second straight game with double figures in scoring (also a team-high 19 vs. Cornell). He is now 11 rebounds away from becoming the 40th Terrapin in history with 500 career rebounds. Mosley already ranks among the Terrapins’ top 20 in career steals, now with 129.

Maryland’s improved play of late has come both in defense and rebounding – two keys to success for Mark Turgeon-coached teams. In their last six games, Maryland is allowing opponents a .406 shooting percentage, while the Terps have held an advantage or matched their opponents’ rebounds seven times in the last eight games.

Maryland leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 64-56, including a sweep of the two games last season. The Terrapins are 7-2 against the Deacs in their last nine outings and own a 4-2 edge in Comcast Center.

Scouting the Demon Deacons

Wake Forest is 10-5 overall and 1-0 in the ACC after dispatching Virginia Tech 58-55 on Saturday… The Demon Deacons have won four of the last five, with the only loss over the last three weeks coming at home to Wofford.

Wake possesses two of the top four scorers in the league in C.J. Harris and Travis McKie… Harris, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, ranks second in the conference with 18.3 ppg, while McKie, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, ranks fourth with 17.5 ppg… Combined, the duo accounts for a shade over 51 percent of the team’s scoring, and both are efficient shooters – Harris ranks fifth in the league in FG% (.551) and McKie ranks seventh (.503)… Additionally, Harris has made 27 of 49 attempts (.551) from 3-point range this season.

The third scoring option for the Demon Deacons is sophomore guard Tony Chennault, who is averaging 11.1 ppg and leads the team with 40 assists and 19 steals.

The Demon Deacons have size up front with a pair of 7-foot centers in Carson Desrosiers and Ty Walker… Desrosiers ranks third in the conference with 40 blocks and had four in the win over Virginia Tech despite playing just 16 minutes… Walker, a senior, earned his first start of the season against the Hokies and is averaging 4.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg… Despite that, Wake ranks 11th in the conference in rebounding margin (minus-3.6 rpg).

Upcoming

Maryland returns to Comcast Center for back-to-back conference games against Wake Forest (Wednesday, 1/11, 7 p.m.) and Georgia Tech (Sunday, 1/15, 4 p.m.) before heading back out on the road at Florida State (Tuesday, 1/17, 9 p.m.) and at Temple (Saturday, 1/21, 11 a.m.) the next week.

Notable

The 9th annual coat drive, hosted by Shawne Merriman’s “Lights On Foundation,” will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 11 during the men’s basketball game with Wake Forest. Fans are encouraged to donate any new or gently-used coats, hats, scarves and mittens for distribution to those in need through the local area.

Honorable Mention: Women’s College Basketball-Virginia @ Maryland (Monday 8:30pm from Comcast Center live on Comcast SportsNet); Boxing: Friday Night Fights-Teon Kennedy vs. Chris Martin (Friday 9pm from Las Vegas live on ESPN2); High School Basketball: Franklin @ Perry Hall (Wednesday 6:30pm), Perry Hall @ Catonsville (Friday 7pm)

10. G. Love & Special Sauce (Friday 8pm Rams Head Live); Bootsy Collins (Wednesday 7:30pm Baltimore Soundstage), Charm City Devils (Saturday 7pm Baltimore Soundstage); Smithereens (Friday 6:30pm & 9:30pm Rams Head on Stage); Rebelution (Sunday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring)

You can’t pay me to say something negative about G. Love. Unless you pay me with money. I’ll lie about anything for money.

I believe Bootsy Collins is a Cincinnati Bengals fan but I’m willing to look past that. I mean, the man did do this…

Charm City Devils are just…just awesome….

I saw Rebelution at Artscape once. Pretty good…

9. George Lopez (Saturday 8pm D.A.R. Constitution Hall); “Contraband” opens in theaters (Friday); Baltimore County Restaurant Week (Thursday-Monday)

George Lopez is only sorta funny sometimes and while Contraband might be okay I can’t tell you I’m really looking forward to it.

So let’s talk about Restaurant Week. As you know, Hightopps Backstage Grille in Timonium is one of my personal favorite spots in Baltimore County. What you might not know is that the breakout star of “Monday Night Live” for the 2011 season was the Santa Fe Fries…

I would have taken a picture of a full plate, but there was never a full plate. Never.

Maryland (10-3, 0-0) at NC State (11-4, 0-0)
Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 | 6 p.m. | RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C.
ESPNU | Terrapin Sports Radio Network

Cornell(4-8) at Maryland (9-3)
Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012 | 8 p.m. | Comcast Center
ESPN3 | Terrapin Sports Radio Network

Honorable Mention: Boxing-ShoBox Luis Ramos Jr. vs. Raymundo Beltran (Friday 11pm from Indio, CA live on Showtime), Friday Night Fights-Dyah Davis vs. Alfonso Lopez (Friday 9pm from Key West, FL live on ESPN2); Soccer: MISL Syracuse Silver Knights @ Baltimore Blast (Friday 7:35pm 1st Mariner Arena), Rochester Lancers @ Baltimore Blast (Saturday 7:35pm 1st Mariner Arena); Women’s College Basketball: Georgia Tech @ Maryland (Friday 8:30pm from Comcast Center live on Comcast SportsNet), Maryland @ North Carolina (Sunday 1pm from Chapel Hill, NC live on Comcast SportsNet)

10. Badfish (Friday 7pm Rams Head Live), Legwarmers (Saturday 7pm Rams Head Live); Pat McGee Band (Friday 7:30pm Birchmere); Carbon Leaf (Friday 7:30pm Saturday 8pm The Barns at Wolf Trap); Johnny Winter (Saturday 8pm Sunday 7pm Rams Head on Stage)

When I heard Badfish was coming to town, I started wondering what my favorite Sublime song of all time was. I’ll probably be killed for it, but how can it not be this?

The Legwarmers are one of those tremendous 80′s cover bands that if you go see you’re guaranteed to have a good time. They do a ton of songs, but none are as good as this song…

I freaking LOVE Pat McGee Band. Here’s Pat doing Crosby Stills  &Nash (although you may be more familiar with Jimmy Buffett’s take)…

I’ve been talking an awful lot about Carbon Leaf this week. Have you taken the hint?

9. Kevin Nealon (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv)

The good news is that if you get your wires crossed at a Kevin Nealon show, he has some experience getting them uncrossed…

Samford (3-8) at Maryland (8-3)
Saturday, Dec. 31 | 2 p.m. | Comcast Center
RSN (CSN locally) | Terrapin Sports Radio Network