The Aliaga Petkim team logo is ubiquitous with showtime.

For the first time this decade, Maryland will face a Miami Hurricanes team without Jack McClinton.  McClinton was the face of Miami basketball for the latter half of the aught aughts, although it seemed like he was there forever.  Terps fans won’t miss Jack, who averaged about 18 PTS per game during his three years at Miami and seemed to always rise to the occasion when playing Maryland.  Jack now hoops it up for Aliaga Petkim of the TBL – the Turkish Basketball League (not the tuberculosis league you silly goose).  There’s nothing like showtime in Instanbul when it comes to top notch bball action.  Needless to say, McClinton can’t do any damage to the Terps from there. 

While Maryland rides a wave of good tidings and new found optimism into tonght’s match-up, the McClintonless Hurricanes wash ashore in College Park like a rudderless ship.  According to an article in the Post, Maryland’s starting rotation has been static since ACC play started, while Miami has gone to eight different starters in four ACC games.  This approach has not yielded good results for the Canes as they have dropped their last three in conference contests. 

While Miami has enjoyed success against the Terps in recent years, there are reasons to feel that the Terps should come out above water tonight.  While Miami comes skidding into this game, Maryland has been playing at a high level lately, outscoring their opponents by 30 PTS/GM over the last three games.  Over the last five games, Eric Hayes has begun to show signs that he is more than just a man of many haircuts (Scott, this is a reminder that you need to add his new feathered doo to the list), and has averaged 10 PTS/GM and 3.6 AST/GM over that period.  Hayes is also shooting a team high 46% from 3-PT range over the course of the season.  He should have a favorable match-up against a tandem of Miami point guards that have been toiling in mediocrity lately. 

Oh, and did I mention that Miami no longer has Jack McClinton?  The Canes are now the Dwayne Collins Show.  The 6′ 8″ senior forward leads Miami in PTS/GM (12.7) and RB/GM (8.7), but Miami has been largely a “scoring by committee” team this year.  The young Maryland bigs can really show me something if they can keep Collins off the offensive glass in this game.  Crashing the boards and eliminating second chances will likely be the lead of Gary’s pep talk tonight. 

Meanwhile, the Terps have Greivis “The Closer” Vasquez to stick a dagger in the Miami attack.  Despite the fauxhawk, Vasquez has looked like Good Ol’ Greivis from the second half of last year, as opposed to the Evil Greivis we saw to start the 2010 campaign.  Look for Greivis to get it going early against a weak Miami back court. 

Add it up, and the #1 in the ACC Maryland Terrapins should pull out a comfortable win against the last place in the ACC Miami Hurricanes tonight in College Park.  I’d like to see the double digit victory train keep rolling.  The more of those wins that Maryland can get - before playing against Clemson and the rest of the ACC Murderers Row in the next month - the better. 

Vegas has Maryland at an 8PT favorite, and the O/U is 146.  The teams combine to average 157 points, and I don’t see this game being a defensive struggle.  I say take the Terps and the over.  Maryland wins 78-69.