MD and GT
ACC Tourney
Greensboro, NC
By Chris B.
"So you're telling me there's a chance."
Lloyd Christmas
As the day went on bubble teams were making a statement. Jerry McNamara has single handedly taken Syracuse from bubble team to lock. Our neighbors from Foggy Bottom are trying to get us again by losing and likely giving the A-10 a second bid that would only have happened with a GW loss. Michigan losts to Minnesota, Florida State looked to be sailing along smoothly, before losing a big lead to Wake. So for every game that hurt our bubble chances, there was a game that helped. (As we are publishing this page another bubble team, Air Force, lost to Wyoming.)
I don't even know where to begin with this one. This was a must win, and the Terps came out and played with that type of effort, the type we seldom see from these guys. Early on Mike Jones, Who? was hot. The team was protecting the ball, playing outstanding defense, and making FT's. Jones scored 13 in the first half. Wilbo played well with Ibekwe, Garrison, and Gist all in foul trouble. MD got up big, but no surprise to this reporter, allowed Tech to get the lead under 15 going in to the half. You could feel the mo starting to change, and with the Virginia game fresh in our minds, you just had a feeling the second half was going to get a lot closer.
Much to the surprise of, probably ACC fans everywhere, MD came out and put this one away early (before making it exciting at the end in garbage time). They took the wind out of the sails of Tech, and Tech looked beat, down on themselves and ready to pack it in. The Colosiuem looked EMPTY about 4 minutes into the second half. We were dominating points in the paint, fast break points, points off turnovers. Those stats helped pace us to a 28 point win. Ibekwe, Garrison, and Gist all were in foul trouble, and as Gary tried to give the players a rest, the game got a little close for comfort. Enter NCM, and DJ back into the game. Needless to say Gini Chukura, and David Neal made an appearance in the game, and the Terps held on for an 82-64 win.
D7 MVP This is a 3 man race, MJ hitting the three's early to help build the lead to make this a sleeper comes to mind (19 points total). DJ made a case for himself with 7 assist, 3 steals, to go with 2 to's. By the way he had 15 points and played with a ton of energy. Then there is D7 mvp mainstay NCM, 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists. I am going to have to stay with NCM on this one. He was a steadying force out there tonight, when the big men were in foul trouble.
Honorable Mention I think DJ gets the nod here.
Random Thought Work should be banned during championship week
The it could be worse section Our bubble hopes could have been popped tonight
Bubble Watch
Record 19-11 (Keep in mind Chaminade will not count) 9-8 ACC
Rank Wishful thinking
Quality Wins: BC and Arkansas (actually all wins, but you know what I mean)
Bad losses: Clemson, Temple (keep winning Owls)
We are on the bubble big time!
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