After the devastation, Gary Williams tore a page from the game program to keep with him throughout what will surely be a painful offseason.
The page featured a team picture of the UCLA Bruins, a six seed who demolished the Terps 105-70 last Saturday. Demolished might be a kind word.
"It'll be somewhere close," said Williams of the haunting photograph. "I have a lot of pride. I don't like getting kicked. We got our butts kicked. I can take losing. I can't take losing like this."
The Bruins were close to perfect that fateful night.
If it wasn't one of their 14 three-pointers, it was their constant barrage of alley-oops. They shot 72.4 percent in the first half. Point guard Earl Watson scored 17 points and dished out 16 assists without a turnover.
"They were throwing lobs from halfcourt," Maryland freshman Tahj Holden said. "It felt like a video game."
Coach Steve Lavin began writing the program for this video game a month ago. Back then, UCLA was looking straight into the eyes of an NIT berth and a losing conference record.
But since a 99-84 loss to Arizona Feb. 19, the Bruins haven't dropped a game. They won their final six of the regular season, including an impressive 94-93 upset of Stanford. UCLA needed all six of those wins just to make the NCAAs, but anyone who doubted the legitimacy of the Bruins' berth has been sufficiently quieted.
The late-season turnaround culminated in the thrashing of the Terps. Everyone in the Metrodome was in awe, except for Lavin, who called it "a solid performance."
"It's not that I'm not pleased with the way we've been playing, but this isn't the point in the season to start thinking about how great we are or how great I am," the coach said.
Lavin could afford to play it cool. While conceding that the turnaround has been fairly remarkable, Lavin wants more. He knows his team has more talent than its six seed indicates. Problem was, nobody knew it. No one had a chance to.
That's because JaRon Rush was forced to sit on the sidelines for three months for accepting money from his former summer league coach and an agent. Forward Matt Barnes missed time because of academic problems. But now, both are back, and so are the Bruins.
"Our team is together with Matt and JaRon," guard Ray Young said. "Our chemistry is on and we're just on a roll.
"We went through a point where we were doubting ourselves. But now we got that cockiness, the confidence."
UCLA can walk with a certain swagger, and from top to bottom, the Bruins are as talented as just about anyone. Rush and Barnes don't even start for this team.
Watson has emerged as a star point guard while UCLA can boast two athletic big men in Jerome Moiso and Dan Gadzuric. Freshman forward Jason Kapono was the Pac-10's rookie of the year.
"Now the country can see what we're like at full strength," Rush said. "Everybody's back. Everybody's healthy. Everybody's playing well. This is what you would have seen at the beginning of the season."
Now, heading into Thursday's matchup with No. 2 seed Iowa State, the Bruins are clicking on all cylinders. Forward Rico Hines says the team thinks it's unstoppable.
"We're right where we want to be," Kapono said. "We're all healthy and we're all on the same page as a team."
Finally.
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