Moments after the Wolfpack was grounded 64-61 by 19th-ranked Maryland in Saturday’s ACC semifinals, inquiring minds wanted to know how significant the absence of injured forward Damon Thornton had been.

Without making excuses, sophomore teammate Anthony Grundy provided an answer.

“It left a big hole,” he explained after State (17-12) was sent packing. “You know we missed him. But injuries happen. They’re hurting teams all across the country and tonight it hurt us.”

State without Thornton, a 6-8 junior and the team’s leading rebounder, is a whole different bag of chips. While he nursed an ankle injury suffered in Friday’s quarterfinal triumph over Virginia, Maryland (24-8) easily won the power game and a berth in today’s 1 p.m. championship match with top-seeded Duke.

“(Thornton) tried to warm up before the game but came back and said he was no where near ready,” reported State coach Herb Sendek. “We didn’t know until that point.”

But at that point, freshman teammate Damien Wilkins knew the Pack would be operating with a small margin for error.

“Yeah, like none,” he said after contributing a team-high 19 points. “That’s what’s so disappointing. We came into this tournament on a high, then beat a very good Virginia team (on Friday). Tonight, even without (Thornton), we played hard and this is what we get. It’s so hard to tell about our team.”

State spent most of the game playing room-temperature basketball against the second-seeded Terps. They fell behind 15-4 after seven minutes, shot poorly from both the field (35.7 percent) and free-throw line (52 percent), and were outrebounded 41-30. At times it seemed they had no business being within striking distance, yet trailed by only a point at halftime before lurching into a 41-33 lead on Grundy’s fastbreak layup with 14:38 to play.

“We’re hot and cold,” said Wilkins. “I think that’s been the story of our season.”

It was a story told again in the late stages of the game. Four times in the second half State procured a lead, only to charitably give it back. The last came with 2:57 remaining when Wilkins converted a pair of free throws for a 58-55 State advantage.

Maryland’s turnaround began on the next State possession, when Grundy’s attempted jump shot for a five-point lead was rejected by forward Terrence Morris.

“I’m not surprised,” said Sendek. “He’s done that throughout his career. He’s an outstanding shot-blocker and a very good defender. That’s one of Maryland’s great characteristics — they make it difficult to get baskets around the hoop.”

The Terps responded with a decisive 9-1 run keyed by a couple of close-range bank shots from all-ACC sophomore Lonny Baxter. He added a turnaround jumper from the right baseline with 30 seconds to go a clutch free throw with 22 seconds left. “See,” said Grundy. “They knew we had a weakness inside and they attacked it.”

State, though seemingly beaten, refused to die and nearly tied the score when Tim Wells got an open look on a three-pointer from left side with four seconds remaining. It clanked off the rim and into the hands of Morris, who ran out the clock.

“I thought I had it,” said Wells, one of two State seniors who hope they haven’t played their last game. “It’s kind of like life. Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes you don’t. Say anything you want, we just came up short tonight.”

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