I've been critical of Gary Williams and the Maryland's performance over the past few years - the Terps have gone to the NIT in three of the past four seasons.

However, Williams & Co. put up a huge win against a Michigan State team that could wind up being the cream of the crop in the Big Ten and a legitimate Final Four team by the end of the season.

A year ago, the Terps started off slow - with non-conference losses to UCLA, Missouri, VCU and American - and also losing their ACC opener to Boston College - before going on a mid-season run that helped get them into the discussion for an NCAA tournament berth.

But Maryland hadn't done enough - and wound up going to the NIT yet again.

This isn't nearly enough for fans in College Park, who watched their Terps win the national title in 2002.

This Maryland squad certainly isn't Williams' most talented, but he has a way of performing mastery with teams that aren't exactly loaded.

This could be a perfect example.

Talented and versatile guard Greivis Vasquez is the only player on the team that will be mentioned as an all-league player, but Williams has gone small and still managed to hold his own on the boards with Tom Izzo's Spartans - typically one of the elite rebounding teams in the country.

Adrian Bowie, Landon Milbourne, Eric Hayes and Cliff Tucker have all been productive on the perimeter - and David Neal, who many questioned could play in the ACC, matched Vasquez with 17 points in the win against Michigan State.

The Terps will face Gonzaga in the semifinals of the Old Spice tournament on Friday and are basically playing with house money. If Maryland can return back to College Park with a couple of wins, it would certainly put itself in position to get back to the NCAA tournament with a solid ACC showing.

RANDOM NOTES: Wake Forest point guard Ishmael Smith returned and played eight minutes in the win over Cal State Fullerton. ... I am a huge fan of Saint Mary's Patty Mills, but the sophomore guard was 5-of-20 from the field and missed all nine of his shots from long distance in the Gaels loss to UTEP. ... How about UMKC coach Matt Brown knocking off a pair of Missouri Valley teams - Wichita State and Bradley - within a week with 11 freshman and sophomores