WASHINGTON (AP) -- Maryland talked about avoiding a letdown, yet came out flat anyway. So did Stanford.
Both nationally ranked teams had little energy left Monday night, just over 24 hours after their emotional confrontation in the opening round of the BB&T Classic, a tense 62-60 Maryland victory.Luckily, the No. 2 Terrapins and sixth-ranked Stanford had enough talent to record virtually identical victories over lesser foes.
Maryland won the championship, 92-75 over DePaul, after Stanford pulled away in the second half to beat George Washington 70-56 in the consolation game.
The Terrapins (10-0) led by only four points with 14:20 left before finally disposing of a young DePaul team that starts three freshmen.
"We came out today a little flat. They took advantage of it," said Maryland forward Terence Morris, who made 10 of 11 shots from the field and matched his career high with 22 points.
"I thought we were tired coming in," Maryland coach Gary Williams conceded. "Of course, that's not something you can even talk about or worry about. You just have to be ready to play."
The letdown was inevitable, given the emotion spent the day before.
NO. 23 ARKANSAS 90, W. CAROLINA 54: At Fayetteville, Pat Bradley scored 32 points, including 8-of-12 from 3-point range, as Arkansas defeated Western Carolina.
Kareem Reid, making his first start since a loss to Villanova on Nov. 22, scored 17 points for the Razorbacks. Derek Hood added 10 points and 10 rebounds.