COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The crowd stormed the court, a drill usually reserved for a surprise victory over a higher-ranked foe.

Funny thing is, the Maryland basketball team didn't consider its win over No. 6 Boston College to be an upset.

Ekene Ibekwe scored 21 points, Chris McCray had 16, and the 21st-ranked Terrapins introduced the Eagles to Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 73-71 victory Sunday night.

"It's a confidence boost, but we're supposed to win this game," McCray said. "We're on our home court and this is the first time for them in the ACC."

Boston College coach Al Skinner said the Eagles have to "get adjusted to the personnel and the coaching styles." He should have also mentioned that it might take a while before BC gets used to the officiating.

The Eagles (6-2) took only 15 foul shots — 11 fewer than their average — making only five.

Maryland (7-2, 1-0) went 19-for-29 at the line, numbers that did not go unnoticed by an irate Skinner.

"We could have made more," he said, "but you're not going to win many games when the other team makes more free throws than you take — especially a team like ours, which is pretty aggressive going to the basket. I just find that hard to believe."

The Terrapins, however, contended that the imbalance was by design.

"That was the first thing the coach told us when we were going over BC: They shoot 26 free throws a game and their opponents average 11 free throws," McCray said. "That's basically how they've been winning games. We just wanted to contain them and stay between them and the basket."

The game was physical from the opening tip, which ended up working in Maryland's favor.

"We know how good they are in the low post," Terrapins center Travis Garrison said. "We had to be smart instead of us having people fouling out and them getting to the line every time. We used our bodies instead of our hands."

Craig Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Sean Marshall scored 15 points for the Eagles, who lost to a Top 25 team for the second time in six days. The defeat came on the heels of a loss to No. 14 Michigan State on Tuesday night.

"This will help us, because these are teams that are going to be there in March Madness, competing for the national championship," Smith said. "It's good preparation to play them now."

The Eagles trailed 73-68 before Tyrese Rice hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left. After Maryland threw the inbounds pass away, Boston College did the same thing.

An instant after the buzzer sounded, hundreds of Terps fans stormed the floor.

"It was important for us to get a quality win," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "Hopefully, this is a building block."

A 5-0 spurt put Maryland up 65-62 with 3:56 left. After Rice made a layup, Ibekwe missed two free throws with 2:21 to go.

D.J. Strawberry stole the ball on the other end, and McCray made a three-point play for a 68-64 lead. Then, after Smith made one of two foul shots, a Maryland basket was wiped out by an offensive goaltending call.

Smith then fouled out when called for a charge, and a reverse layup by Nik Caner-Medley put Maryland up 70-65 with 43 seconds left.

The Terrapins held on — but barely.

"I'm very proud of our team," Williams said. "We did a great job in just about every situation."