Terps-Cal Preview: Looking into the Mirror

Maryland returns to the NCAA tournament for only the second time in the last five seasons on Thursday afternoon.The No. 10-seed Terrapins (20-13) face the No. 7-seed California Golden Bears (22-10) in an ACC-Pacific-10 showdown in the first round.The Terps earned an at-large bid after beating North Carolina State and Wake Forest in the ACC tournament while the Golden Bears finished in a third-place tie with Arizona State in the Pac-10. Both Maryland and Cal rely on strong play from their guards and lack any consistent threats in the frontcourt.The Terps rely on pressure and penetration from its guards to create offense while coach Mike Montgomery’s Golden Bears lead the nation in three-point shooting, making 43.4 percent of its attempts. Cal’s three-point shooting is more selective than other long-distance shooting teams like Duke that take over 700 attempts in a season. The Golden Bears took only 468 three-point attempts, 106 fewer than Maryland. Maryland likes to occasionally swi...