1. GREI-VIS VAS-QUEZ!  Greivis was on fire, shooting 10/13 FG in the first half.  His 25 PTS in the first half were nearly as many (34) as the Cavaliers had altogether.  Virginia had no answer for Greivis, and he put the dagger in early.  Final line on Greivis: 30 PTS/8 RB/5 AST.  Maryland needed it’s leader to step-up, and he responded by putting his foot on the throat of a conference rival, effectively ending their chances of a tournament appearance.
2. The Cavalier’s defenses were down.  UVA’s vaunted pack-line defense looked more like a dotted line.  UVA had coach Tony Bennett said of his team’s defensive play, “There were so many holes in it tonight.”  So many holes that Maryland shot 70% FG in the first half, and 56% FG for the game.
3. Maryland won with a team game.  The Terps finished with 22 AST on 36 FGM and 12 OREB.  They were sharing the rock and crashing the boards.  Combine that with lights out shooting, and Maryland was unbeatable last night.
4. Jordan Williams bounced back from a Fresmanlike performance against The Unmentionables  with 11 PTS and 11 RB.  It was a solid effort, and it showed that the kid can forget the bad days and move on.  That’s a good sign developmentally.
5. It was good to be home.  Maryland is now 12-1 at home, and their average margin of victory at the Comcast Center is 19 PPG.  When you’re an average team in a tough conference, it is of utmost importance to defend your home court.  The Terps made a living off that for years at Cole Field House.  If this season is any indication, there might be the beginnings of a new tradition of excellence at home starting with2010.

Last night, Maryland succeeded in picking up the pieces from Saturday’s loss.  They got their rebound.  They’re back on the horse.  The Terps still need a few more wins to solidify a tournament bid.

Next notch in the bedpost: NC State on Wednesday.

How do you start to fix a broken heart? A rebound, that's how.

Saturday’s 77-56 loss at Duke hurt.  It hurt bad.  Terps fans had to work hard to let their guards down and embrace this year’s squad.  It started out as a fling, but then it turned into something more.  Six games into the ACC schedule the Terps were in sole possession of first place in the conference.  As one win followed the next, fans were starting to believe there was something more to this year, something special.  It all felt so real.

Just when we were starting to fall in love with this Terps team, they went back to their old ways.  They screwed up big.  They broke our hearts.

We all know that there is only one way to deal with this sort of heartbreak: a rebound.  Maryland needs to get right back on the horse.  The only medicine that cures this sort of loss is a quick win.  Sure, it might not last all season, but it will make us all feel better today.  That’s how you cope.  That’s how you get back in the game.

Who is going to be Maryland’s rebound?  UVA, that’s who.  Maryland’s old neighbor almost came into town last week but the timing wasn’t right.  The Terps were still trying to work things out.  Now that Duke is out of the picture, UVA is back in College Park and they’re coming over tonight.  Gary Williams called UVA coach Tony Bennett late last night to talk about things, and Tony Bennett reassured him with this song called “Just in Time”:

Just in time, I found you just in time
Before you came, my time was runnin’ low
I was lost, the losin’ dice were tossed
My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go
Now you’re here and now I know just where I’m goin’
No more doubt or fear, I found my way
For love came just in time
You found me just in time
And changed my lonely life that lovely day

Mm, I was lost, the losin’ dice were tossed
My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go
Now you’re here and now I know just where I’m goin’
No more doubt or fear, I found my way
For love came just in time
You found me just in time
And changed my lonely life that lovely day

- Tony Bennett, “Just in Time”

How can we count on a rebound with UVA tonight?  For starters, they really aren’t that deep.  What you see is what you get with the Cavaliers.  They have two guys that handle the bulk of the scoring – shooting guard Sylven Landesberg at 18 PTS/GM, and power forward Mike Scott at 13 PTS/GM.  Other than those two key players, the offense is a bit of a crap shoot for UVA.  Maryland can let Landesberg and Scott get theirs, stay in control and contain the rest of the team, and that should be enough.

On the defensive side of the ball, much has been made of UVA’s “pack-line” scheme, which is basically man-to-man defense that allows for defenders to swarm to the ball if someone gets beat on the perimeter.  How do you beat the pack-line?  If you can play a solid inside-out game to draw defenders to the blocks and then shoot well from the outside, you can beat it fairly easily.  That should bode well for the Terps who tend to shoot well at home.

The Terps don’t want to take it slow tonight.  UVA will try to play coy and make the Terps work for their points.  Maryland needs come out aggressive, maybe even a little pushy, and press the issue.  The Terps need to force UVA to make quick, rash decisions in order to get what they want.  If Maryland can dictate the pace and keep things moving, they should be able to score a win against UVA before they get out of town tomorrow.

By Wednesday, this will all be history.  The Terps will be in North Carolina, and the Cavaliers will be back home where they belong.  But for tonight – just one night – Maryland needs UVA to be their rebound.  A quick win will make us all forget what happened Saturday with old what’s their name.

What was that?  Did I see a little smile?  See that, we’re starting to feel better already.

Do the Zac MacMath and it adds up to a Terrapin win.

The defending National Champion Maryland Terrapins men’s soccer team returned to the Elite 8 with wins over Loyola, Penn State, and Harvard.  The Terps came into the tournament ranked #5 in the country, but they were unseeded after losing in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.  Due to their low seeding, the Terps have had to play every game past the first round on the road.

The Terps travel to Charlottesville to take on UVA this weekend.  The Wahoos secured the 2 seed in the national tournament by winning the ACC Championship this year.  Shell Games is sending its entire staff to Charlottesville on Saturday for the Phish concert live postgame reactions.  That is just the kind of service this blog provides to its readers.

I can’t locate a Vegas line on this game, but I’ll throw some high level criteria together that make it sound like a well thought pregame analysis:

• Maryland was ranked #5 in the country at the end of the regular season and UVA was #6, so the national pollsters view this game as an even match-up (Advantage = Push)
• UVA won the ACC Championship, UMD is the defending National Champion, so both teams are good in the big games (Advantage = Push)
• UVA is at home, which should give them a 1 goal advantage (Advantage = UVA)
• The teams tied 0-0 in 2OT in their regular season meeting on Halloween, but UVA beat the Terps 1-0 in the ACC tournament (Advantage = UVA)

Add it all up, and UVA enjoys a .5 goals/gm advantage in their two match-ups this season, and a 1 goal advantage for being at home.  I’m putting the line at UVA -1.5 over UMD, with the O/U at 3 goals.

Of course, I predict a MARYLAND UPSET!  WHAT’S UP NOW WAHOOS!  The Terps will get a late goal to STUN the ACC Champion Cavaliers.  They will go on to defeat Wake Forest and UNC on the way to a repeat National Championship.  YEAH BABY, GO TERPS!

I’m droppin’ science like Galileo dropped the orange.

I will remember this as the “Team Game”.  This win was the first time in 2009 that Maryland really gelled as a unit.  The Terps had balanced scoring with six players scoring eight or more points.  I have cited the importance of Milbourne’s role as the big man under the basket.  I’ve also cited the importance of point guard play in the Gary Williams offense.  Milbourne (17pts 5rb) and Hayes (10pts and a career high 11 assists) both stepped-up yesterday. Eight Terps were on the floor for more than 10 minutes last night.   Maryland’s baseline-to-baseline style of play requires everyone to contribute, otherwise the team runs out of gas.  Against UVA, the Terps moved the ball around and got everyone involved, and that was a recipe for success.

After the game, Gary Williams told the Baltimore Sun, “There are a lot of demons you have to get out of your head after what happened at Miami.”  Last night’s game ended with the Terps fending off a big run by an inferior opponent, and with Greivis Vasquez icing the game by hitting a couple big free-throws in front of the home crowd.  One could make the point that Maryland should have never let the Cavaliers back in this game, but I believe this game should help slay those mental demons.

Let’s hope so.  Dave Neal and the rest of the team is going to need a clear head if we’re going to beat Duke in Raleigh this Saturday.  Fuck Duke!

Friedgen stated that there has been trouble “getting through to [the players]” regarding travel plans.  The coach said that he actually yelled out to key players to get on the team bus before the UVA game, but they may not have heard him.  In a post-game press conference he stated, “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. I think, ‘What more could I have done?’ It’s a question of whether they hear you or whether they want to hear you.”  Friedgen went on to say that key players Da’Rel Scott, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Jeremy Navarre missed the game altogether.  “This wasn’t about X’s and O’s,” Friedgen said. “It was about who came to play and who didn’t.”

The logistical problems have led the Terps to cancel their remaining road games and focus on winning at Byrd Stadium, where they are 4-0 and have beaten two Top 25 teams. The move comes despite the fact that the Terps only had four road games in their twelve game schedule. Friedgen also cited concerns over the coaching staff’s propensity to throw players under the team bus following losses.

The friendly confines of Byrd Stadium.