Game blog: Maryland takes down N.C. State 71-60
Mar 1, 2009
9:32 p.m., Fells misses, Hayes at the line: Fells missed his 3-pointer and Hayes made two at the line. Game is over. MD wins 71-60. Another very tough loss for N.C. State. They are right with all of these teams but just can't get wins.
9:30 p.m., Vasquez with a dagger!: And his was a bigger one. N.C. State cut it to a four point game and they played defense the whole shot clock. Greivis got in the lane and connected to put MD back up by six. State took a timeout with 25 seconds left, down 66-60.
9:28 p.m., Tucker with a dagger: Cliff Tucker makes a two point shot right at the end of the shot clock to give the Terps an eight point lead with under two minutes to play. Now MD has the ball with under 90 seconds to play and have taken a timeout. This one is nearly over.
9:21 p.m., Everything goes quiet: Fells turns the ball over and Vasquz makes a nice dish to Gregory for a two pointer. Now Maryland has the lead to 60-53 with under four minutes to play. This will take some guts for State to pull this game out. Both teams have a lot to play for. Dave Neal hit a big 3-pointer for the Terps in the last couple minutes. But just now Gonzalez answers with a 3-ball of his own to cut it to four points. Just before the media break Fells blocked a Hayes runner from behind and got called for the foul, though a late whistle. The fans all hated it! It's 60-56 with 3:01 to go with Hayes on the line for two when we return.
9:14 p.m., Tracy is really working: He is a fierce competitor tonight. He is willing himself for the ball down there tonight. He has 18 points and at least seven rebounds after the last offensive board. He worked himself to two shots at the line and he fouled out Landon Milbourne. Milbourne (who I said to look out for) had a horrible game. But Vasquez is eating Fells' lunch today. Fells is getting burned out there. Greivis is going around him, and popping threes over him. He has a game high 28 points. Maryland leads 55-53 with 6:53 left in the game.
9:09 p.m., Timeout Gary: The lead belongs to the Pack finally, for the first time in the entire game. It's fitting it comes on a Tracy Smith bucket down low, and he got fouled. The roof blew off this joint when he hit the shot. State leads 49-47 after the 3-point play.
9:03 p.m., McCauley back to the line: Ben recently is finding his way to the hoop, getting it to go or drawing fouls. He will be at the line for two shots here in a moment. He can get his ninth and tenth points of the game. We are under 11 minutes to play in the game and the Terps still lead it by three. The Pack though have trailed virtually the whole game and they just can't seem to get over the hump.
9:00 p.m., Costner shows up: He got in the game and swished a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock. That brought the Pack within three points, but then Vasquez drives to the rim for an easy basket. He has 21 points. It's 45-42 Terps on top.
8:53 p.m., McCauley needs to shoot more: Alot of it has been the zone Maryland has played. They are packing it in on the big guys. But just a moment ago McCauley got it in the blocks against a man defense and he made a nice move to the bucket. He has four poitns in the game. He only shot the ball one time in the first half, not enough. State trails 38-35.
8:49 p.m., Timeout Sidney: Lowe wants to talk it over right now. It's been four minutes so far in the second half and the Pack has not scored a point. Maryland leads 38-33. N.C. State has got to bust up this 3-2 zone the Terps have shown for much of the game.
8:45 p.m., Costner sitting: I don't agree with playing Horner over Costner to start the second half. Brandon is arguably the best player on your team and he had a rough first half. I would think you want to start him fresh in the second half to try to get it going. Now he is going to think about his poor play on the bench and maybe never get it back. Only one basket so far as Maryland leads 36-33.
8:35 p.m., The first half lines: Tracy Smith and Greivis Vasquez both have 12 points a piece to lead their teams. Vasquez has four assists while Smith has five rebounds. Dave Neal and Courtney Fells chipped in eight points a piece for their respective teams. The Terps only turned it over twice while the Pack did the bad stuff eight times.
8:30 p.m., Lowes hot shot contest: Contestant Patrick struggles to say the least. I think he went 1-10 out there. You know they set up mats on the floor and you shoot from each mat to win money to shop at Lowe's? Well he is going away with the minimum $50 to Lowe's. Another Major League quote: woman in apartment, "I hear baseball players make a lot of money."
Jake Taylor, "Well that depends on how good you are."
woman in apartment, "Well how good are you?"
Jake Taylor, "I make the league minimum."
8:26 p.m., Good defense by State: They played really solid man defense in Maryland's last possession and prevented Vasquez from getting a good look on his drive to the basket. The Wolfpack have done well to make this a one point game at the half. Tracy Smith has been the exciting player to watch with his work inside and his power slams. He has 12 points as the Terps lead it 34-33. There is no reason to Fear the Turtle!
8:20 p.m., Timeout Gary: The Pack go on a little 7-0 run here to get back in it. They go back inside to Tracy Smith who now has 12 points. That is what works right now. State has left the zones and tricky defenses and is playing a man-to-man again. Ben McCauley takes a charge and gets the fans going just before the media break. Maryland leads 34-31 with 1:17 left in the half.
There was a press row disaster just moments ago. The N.C. State student that does the write-ups for our website here at Wralsportsfan.com had the ball jam her imac and send her drink flying. Tough break there, and a little got on the fans in the first row. It's like the splash zone at Sea World over here.
8:17 p.m., State out of sync: The defenses aren't working for State right now. They are trying a triangle and two. They have a man on Hayes and a man on Vazquez and the three big guys are defending the paint. Vasquez however has buried two 3-balls against that defense and the other zone they tried. Now Dave Neal is stepping out and hitting threes and no one is there to defend it. Courtney Fells hits a big 3-pointer to bring it back within 10 points. Maryland leads 34-27 with 3:11 to go in the first.
8:09 p.m., Full court zone: That's the defense the Terps are using at times, and surprisingly that is not what is causing the Wolfpack fits. N.C. State is turning it over once they beat the press and get into the offense. The Terps switched to a 3-2 zone in the half court just before the media timeout. It's still 25-18. The N.C. State men's tennis team is getting some cheers.
8:07 p.m., More bad: State just had an awful in bounds under the basket that should have been a turnover, then they violated the shot clock to turn it over that way instead. This is too big of a game to be making early season mistakes. Eric Hayes makes them pay with a swished 3-ball. Maryland extends the lead to 25-18 with under eight minutes to play in the opening half.
8:05 p.m., Smith the dunker: He has three big slams now, and he leads all with 10 points. The Wolfpack are starting to have turnover problems already. They need to have some ball control.
7:59 p.m., Timeout Lowe: Sidney calls for a quick timeout because Maryland drove the ball right to the lane and the defense parted and let it happen. Wolfpack got lucky when the lay-in was missed. Tracy Smith is doing work inside finding an early groove. He is feeling like he can score everytime he touches the ball. Horner, Degand, and Williams enter the game. And like any N.C. State point guard, Degand starts off with a turnover. Maryland leads it 18-16 with 10:59 left in the first half. It's been high energy so far with solid man-to-man defense on both sides.
7:52 p.m., Guess who has athleticism?: Tracy Smith has it. He is the highest jumper of anyone on the floor in most games. He got up high and down hard for a huge two handed dunk. Maryland has the 11-7 lead with 15:15 to go in the first half. I'm not too impressed with this crowd. The lower bowl has a huge empty spot behind one of the baskets. There are maybe 12 thousand here tonight.
7:48 p.m., Javi starts badly: An ugly turnover on a simple entry pass that wasn't there, that was his first play out of the gate. Fells is guarding Vasquez to start the game. Milbourne and Fells both exchanged a couple threes. Vasquez led a nice fast break with a no-look dish to Sean Mosley who made the lay up and got fouled. Terps lead 9-5 in the first minutes.
7:43 p.m., Who guards Vasquez?: My guess will be Mr. Courtney Fells. He normally draws the toughest assignment. Look out for Maryland's Landon Milbourne, one of the more underrated offensive players in the ACC.
7:36 p.m., You won't see it on T.V.: N.C. State student behind me, "Greivis where's your green card!"
Vasquez dribbling on near side makes eye contact with student and smiles, "I got one!"
7:20 p.m., Tough run for Maryland: No offense to the Wolfpack, but it's been a while since the Terps have faced a team ranked outside the top 15. Maryland's last three games have been against No. 13 Clemson, No. 3 North Carolina, and No. 7 Duke. They beat the Heels, played well against Duke but lost, and played horribly against Clemson and lost. But hey, the Wolfpack hasn't had it much easier. Two of its last three games were at North Carolina and at Wake Forest. They lost them both but were competitive in both. I have personally checked the record books (line from Major League) and the Fox Sports side line lady is Jenn Hildreth.
7:03 p.m., It's March: Let the madness begin. This might not be as mad as Duke and North Carolina will be next week, but this is a pretty important game for both sides. N.C. State is obviously hanging on to NCAA hopes by a small thread. Of course the one way to get in is to win the conference tournament (not easy). Maryland I think is in great position to get in and are just a couple wins away. However a loss here tonight puts them very much on the bubble. It pays to get to your seat early. Tonight's game is on Fox Sports in high definition and there sideline reporter is looking quite nice tonight. And no the reporter is not a dude. The pep band is doing scales and we are just a half hour away from tip!
