Woo! Awesome team victory tonight, as the Terps upset #18 Florida State 77-68. FSU remains oh for the Comcast Center after its sixth game there. To the points:

1. Game MVP: one Greivis Vasquez. Twenty-two points on 8-18 shooting, including some clutch shots down the stretch to quell an FSU rally. He also played brilliant defense, including some great helping D in the post. What a motor. This is the kind of game they tend to lose…a big lead evaporates and the team loses its composure. Vasquez didn’t let that happen tonight. I’m not exactly Vasquez Superfan 21 over here, but credit where it’s due: he was numero uno out there tonight.
2. The bigs did a solid job on FSU’s formidable front court. Jordan Williams and Landon Milbourne seemed quicker and more nimble than Solomon Alabi et al, and were able to get Alabi in early foul trouble. They do need to box out more consistently, though.
3. Clunky is not even the word for FSU’s offense. Seriously, do they have to start it up with a hand crank before every game? Is it powered by hamsters? If one of the bigs couldn’t get a layup, they kicked it out for three. If that didn’t work, they simply tossed the ball to the referee. By the end of the season, they’re gonna lead the nation in not dribbling. And that exhausts my cache of FSU’s-offense-stinks-related zingers.
4. Fiesty crowd at Comcast tonight. Terp fans seem to understand that (a) this team needs a home-court advantage, and (b) they need it every game — not just Duke and Carolina.
5. FSU commits a ton of turnovers (11th in ACC), and Maryland exploited that, forcing 12 turnovers and 17 fouls.  And it actually seemed like a lot more than that.
6. Props to Cliff Tucker, who provided the Terps with a serious booster shot in 16 minutes off the bench. He’s out of Gary’s doghouse for now. Has Adrian Bowie (no points in 11 minutes) taken his place in there, or did Gary simply view Bowie’s slash-it-up style as a bad fit against the Noles’ Redwood forest of a frontcourt? As always, only TIME…will tell.
7. The three starting guards (36 pts and 11 assists all together) did great jobs getting shots for themselves and others. FSU repeatedly fell for their pump fakes and step-backs, and they seemed committed to making the extra pass without getting gaudy abut it.
8. Speaking of passing, Maryland was excellent in moving the ball around the zone, although it occasionally crossed into hot-potato territory. They backslid into freelancing at times, but by and large they showed real patience and poise — very encouraging.
9. Gary shows again that he’s just better in underdog situations. (I also noticed he used the press pretty sparingly, which is good.)  Dear AP voters: please do not vote for Maryland.
10. Tucker and Sean Mosely put the clamps on 6′9″ Chris Singleton, who wasn’t a major factor while the outcome was still in question. I’m no Singleton expert, but “passionate” isn’t a word I’d use to describe his personality on the court.

The Terps now travel to Wake for a Tuesday night game. Will be interesting to see what their focus is like after this win and on short rest.  They don’t have the luxury of letting up.

(Photo credit: Alan P. Santos/DC Sports Box)

I can’t believe how fast people are turning on Agent Zero.  How they gonna do me like that?   Think back to my contributions recently.  I played in 47 games over the past three seasons. FORTY SEVEN. How many did you play in? Uh-huh. The prosecution rests. That rock don’t chuck itself, homeboy.  You’re treating me like all those games didn’t mean nothing to you.  But go ahead…get rid of me. If you can find another eccentric shoot-first point guard with bad knees who’s willing to play for $111 million, you got my blessing, man. Hey! Why are you dancing? You don’t gotta dance on me, man.

You know, this all reminds me of a story I once heard.  It’s one of those fake stories…fake stories?   Fairy tale, like…FABLE!  It’s like one of those fables.  But it’s about a man who fell in love with a blind woman, okay.   The man loved her so much, he gave her his eyes so she could see.  And when she could see, he asked her to marry him, but she was all like, “I don’t wanna marry no blind man.”  You see?  That blind man was me.  I GAVE YOU MY EYES, DC!  WHAT ELSE YOU WANT!?!?!   Oh, you want your money back?  Sorry, can’t do that.  Artificial atmospheres don’t pay for themselves, do they now.

So as you might have guessed, I got me a little extra down time these days.  It’s just temporary…until these clown-ass cops realize they’re stupid and they got no case.  Except for those guns.  You know.  But F that, man. They’ll learn it’s the media’s fault and then I’ll sue the media and then I’ll write stories about how stupid THEY are!  I’ll be talking about how they get it on with dogs and stuff like that.  It’s just like what they’re doing with me.  Except my shit is true, that’s all.  Your day of reckoning is coming, media.  Believe that.

All my extra free time means I can watch a lot more ball on the TV.  I do it while I’m counting my umbrella collection.  Did you know I collect umbrellas?  Yeah, man, I got like four thousand of them bitches.  It’s just a little habit I picked up on the streets.  When I’m not giving money to schools, you know, I’m buying umbrellas.

One of the ball games I’m gonna watch is Maryland-Florida State. For the 12-2, 18th-ranked Seminoles, it begins and ends with their front court, Solomon Alabi and Chris Singelton. And don’t be sleepin on Ryan Reid, either. That dude does some serious dirty work. In fact, they all do serious dirty work. This is a dirty work team. They are NASTY on the blocks, yo. NASTY on the boards. Serious swag down there, son. They’re tops in the ACC in scoring defense, FG percentage defense (opponents only shoot 33 percent…DAMN!), and blocked shots. Second in steals. Third in defensive rebounding. So let me repeat: they. are. nasty.

That’s why this one might be hard for Maryland. When was the last time you saw them mix it up with anybody? If I was the other coach, I would be like, “Maryland’s good, but you hit em in the mouth one time and they fold.” Hitting dudes in the mouth is this team’s specialty. Jordan Williams and Dino Gregory better be on notice. They’re gonna log some rugged minutes, man. Not to mention Vasquez and Bowie and anyone else that wants to slash their way in there. Something tells me Bowie’s gonna have a quiet game.

On offense, though, things flip around. It’s clear the Noles miss Toney Douglas. And why wouldn’t they? He played there for like 12 years. But now, they got no big-time scoring threat. They dump it inside and hope for the best. They’re methodical, which is a nice way of saying they got no clear options. But you know what? Maryland does. So if it’s Vasquez and Mosely time, and if Hayes gets hot, now we got something.

But assuming FSU’s superior defense and Maryland’s superior offense are equal and opposite, it’s gonna come down to the intangibles. Will, baby. Hustle. Who can impose their game on the other one? I’m saying Florida State gets this one. They’re hungry right now. Maybe Maryland wins the rematch in Tallahassee on Feb. 4, but the Noles are gonna get this one. I’ll bet you on it. I’ll bet you my umbrellas. Well, some of my umbrellas. Actually, I’ll go you one better. I got four guns here that says FSU gets the W. Actually, you don’t even gotta bet me. Just take em, OK? Take those gloves off and hold ‘em in your hand. My gift to you, son! Go ahead, get on outta here.

Prediction: Florida State 79, Maryland 66