College Park, Md. ? Boston College coach Al Skinner looked at the stat sheet and shook his head.

The No. 6 Eagles had just lost their Atlantic Coast Conference debut, falling to 21st-ranked Maryland, 73-71, Sunday night, and Skinner was asked about his team’s 5-for-15 performance at the foul line.

“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.”

It might take awhile for the Eagles (6-2) to get adjusted to the ACC, especially the referees.

Ekene Ibekwe scored 21 points, and Chris McCray had 16 for the Terrapins (7-2, 1-0), who went 19-for-29 at the line. The Eagles were called for 24 fouls compared to 16 for Maryland.

That, the Terrapins contend, 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.”

Maryland's Ekene Ibekwe celebrates the Terrapins' 73-71 victory against Boston College on Sunday in College Park, Md. Ibekwe lead the Terps with 21 points.

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

“The big thing was they were averaging 26 free throws a game, and we held them to 15. That helped us a lot,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “I thought the contact was there at both ends of the court.”

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.

Smith attributed the Eagles’ woes at the foul line on the loud, sellout crowd.

“That’s why teams have home-court advantage,” he said. “I felt like our guys really didn’t get in their rhythm.”

The Eagles trailed 73-68 before Tyrese Rice hit a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left. After Maryland threw the inbounds pass out of bounds, Boston College did the same thing. As the final buzzer sounded, several hundred fans stormed the court to celebrate the upset.

“It was important for us to get a quality win,” Williams said. “Hopefully, this is a building block.”