Home
Up

University Hall

          Charlottesville, VA

Virginia Recap

“Travis Garrison is so soft, his shots go in like they are being flushed down the toilet”

                        -Bix

They tried, oh god how they tried, but the Terps just couldn’t give this one away as they closed down University Hall just the way it was opened, with a UVA loss.  The Terps for once this year looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory, but we should have known better than that.  Despite leading by 18 points in the second half the Terps damn near lost this ever so crucial match up.  In fact once UVA took the lead with about 4 minutes to go, everyone in the basement in Naptown was predicting a Cavalier win by at least 8, if not more.

But for once this year, the stars aligned and Maryland was able to get a HUGE win.  Mike Jones found himself wide open with a minute left to hit a monstrous 3, to give the Terps a one point lead.  UVA, taking a play out of the Maryland play book, proceeded to look like a junior varsity squad, and despite having all the time in the world, shot up an off balance 3 point attempt that didn’t really ever have much of a chance.  As the ball fell harmlessly to the floor to end UVA’s era in University Hall, Nik Caner-Medley held up the word “Maryland” on his jersey, and proceeded to get trash thrown at him….AWESOME! 

The question now is what does that win mean for Maryland?  The Terps now have an 8-8 record in the ACC, and an overall record of 18-11.  They get matched up with Georgia Tech who the Terps have beaten twice so far this year, and then if they can win, will get a rematch with Boston College.  Actually I guess I should say BC gets a rematch with Maryland.  The Terps were pretty happy with the original results.  So realistically we could be looking at a finish of 9-9 in the ACC and 19-12 overall.  I don’t know if that would be enough to get us in, but I do know that if Mike Jones misses the three, we are not even having this conversation. 

D-7 MVP-  The taunting was great, but even without it I am going to give yet another D-7 MVP award to Nik.  NCM struggled from the floor, but man was he money at the line.  The Pride of Portland shot an amazing 12-12 from the line.  Though no one mentioned it on TV, that had to be one of Maryland’s all time best FT games.  Think about it, he shoots 11-12 and we tie, 10-12 (83%) we lose!  Anyway, he wasn’t so money from the floor (2-9) but he made up for it at the line down the stretch.  By the way NCM also had 3 assists to 0 turnovers.  He has had the least amount of TO’s on this team the last few games.  The way we struggle with the ball, I don’t know why people don’t make a bigger deal about this.

Honorable Mention:  You gotta go with Mike Jones on this one.  It was only the most important shot of the year and as soon as I saw 23 on the back squared to the basket, I had a feeling that something good was going to happen.       

Random Thought of the Day:  Am I really that out of touch?  I haven’t even HEARD of the movie “Crash” that won the Academy Award for best picture.  That is pretty much the equivalent of someone not knowing who was in the Super Bowl this year.  Do avid movie fans now look at me with disgust? 

The “It Could be Worse” Section:  Simply put…..Wake.  Typing up that final ACC standings, I still couldn’t believe how lifeless they were this year. 

Enemy of the State:  JR Reynolds had 30 points against the Terps.  No one else on the Cav’s had double digits.  This is perhaps the easiest choice since the Reagan-Mondale election.

Factoid Alert:  This is sort of a potential Factoid.  The Terps have combined for 51 turnovers against Georgia Tech this year.  With another match-up on the horizon, we could honestly be looking at 70+ T/O’s against the Jackets this year.  I wonder what is the most Turnovers we have ever committed against one opponent in one season (2006 Tailgate MVP bonus points for the person who can pull that one). 

Final ACC Standings:

            Team                Conf Red         Overall

            Duke                14-2                 27-3

            UNC                12-4                 21-6

            BC                   11-5                 24-6

            NC State          10-6                 21-8

            FSU                 9-7                   19-8

            Maryland          8-8                   18-11

            UVA                7-9                   14-13

            Miami               7-9                   15-14

            Clemson           7-9                   18-11

            Va Tech           4-12                 14-15

            GT                   4-12                 11-16

            Wake               3-13                 15-15

Bubble Watch:

Record:  18-11  8-8

Rank:  Honestly, I don’t even remember being ranked.

Quality Wins:  #6Boston College, Arkansas

Bad Losses:  Temple, Clemson

Outlook:  We’re on the outside as of now, but we still have a chance.