jbooma
March-4th-2004, 12:24 AM
If they win this weekend they should be in.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28886-2004Mar3.html
Terps Survive Wolfpack Attack
Gilchrist Sparks Win For Maryland: Maryland 70, North Carolina St. 69
By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 4, 2004; Page D01
RALEIGH, N.C., March 3 -- They weren't supposed to win the game in the first place. After they frittered away a 17-point first-half lead, they seemed sure to go away quietly.
Yet just when the Maryland basketball team's fate finally seemed set Wednesday night, the Terrapins fought back, grinding out a crucial 70-69 victory over 16th-ranked North Carolina State at RBC Center.
Point guard John Gilchrist, who didn't start the game after being late for a team function earlier in the day, led the way with 21 points in a determined performance. Jamar Smith, the center who had been so maligned recently, barely secured the win by hitting two of four free throws in the final 19 seconds, making a three-pointer at the buzzer by the Wolfpack's Julius Hodge immaterial. Smith, playing inspired ball for the first time in weeks, finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"We've pulled games out before, but it's been a long time," Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. "When you don't win as much lately, it gets hard. . . . But I was really proud of our guys tonight."
With the victory, Maryland (15-11, 6-9 ACC) moved into a three-way tie for sixth place in the league, joining Florida State and Virginia. The Terrapins will host the Cavaliers in their regular season finale Sunday night -- a game that will have a huge impact on the hopes of both teams to make the NCAA tournament.
Beat Virginia, and the Terps will have a seventh ACC victory -- which many observers believe should be enough to earn any ACC team a berth in the NCAA tournament. A win would also guarantee the Terps finish no worse than sixth in the league. Lose to the Cavaliers, and the Terps could, possibly, still fall into the play-in game of the ACC tournament -- in which the eighth- and ninth-place teams face off for the right to face the top seed.
If Maryland had played most of the season like it played most of the first half against N.C. State , its NCAA fate would have been determined long ago.
The Terps, who have frequently failed to bring the required energy from the opening tip, didn't have that problem Wednesday, seizing an 11-3 lead.
So much was different about the Terps during that opening stretch. There was Smith -- who had scored all of 17 points over his past four games -- looking much more like the solid ACC player he was early in the season. With just under eight minutes left in the half, Smith hit a baseline jumper to give him eight points, and Maryland's lead was 28-14.
Smith's jumper came in the middle of a flurry from Gilchrist, who has been the Terps' best offensive option for most of the ACC season.
When Gilchrist got on the court after sitting for just more than five minutes, he had an immediate impact. During one stretch, he scored 13 of 17 Maryland points in all manners -- even throwing an inbounds pass off the back of an N.C. State player, retrieving the ball and laying it in. That set the offensive tone for the Terps -- who shot 52 percent in the first half -- and when freshman guard Mike Jones hit his second three-pointer with 3:40 remaining, the Terps led 40-23.
The Wolfpack scored the final six points of the first half, however, and went into the intermission down only 44-34.
Naturally, that was further whittled down. Marcus Melvin hit a three on the Pack's first possession after halftime. When forward Ilian Evtimov nailed three-pointers on consecutive possessions in the first five minutes after halftime, the Wolfpack led 52-50 its first advantage since 3-2.
Given the chance to fold, the Terps declined, and from there, it was back-and-forth. Maryland's Nik Caner-Medley hit a three-pointer to give the Terps the lead back, the first of five lead changes and two ties in the next six minutes.
Maryland led by six with 2:17 left when Hodge scored in the lane, and Melvin hit two free throws to cut the lead to two. With a minute left, Caner-Medley missed for Maryland, and the Wolfpack called timeout.
Twice, though, State missed chances to tie or force overtime, first on Levi Watkins's missed jumper, then on a wayward three-pointer from Melvin. Smith hit 1 of 2 free throws for Maryland with 18 seconds remaining for a 69-66 lead, and when Melvin missed yet another three-pointer, Smith made the first of two with 4.5 seconds remaining, sealing a victory -- when no other outcome would have sufficed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28886-2004Mar3.html
Terps Survive Wolfpack Attack
Gilchrist Sparks Win For Maryland: Maryland 70, North Carolina St. 69
By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 4, 2004; Page D01
RALEIGH, N.C., March 3 -- They weren't supposed to win the game in the first place. After they frittered away a 17-point first-half lead, they seemed sure to go away quietly.
Yet just when the Maryland basketball team's fate finally seemed set Wednesday night, the Terrapins fought back, grinding out a crucial 70-69 victory over 16th-ranked North Carolina State at RBC Center.
Point guard John Gilchrist, who didn't start the game after being late for a team function earlier in the day, led the way with 21 points in a determined performance. Jamar Smith, the center who had been so maligned recently, barely secured the win by hitting two of four free throws in the final 19 seconds, making a three-pointer at the buzzer by the Wolfpack's Julius Hodge immaterial. Smith, playing inspired ball for the first time in weeks, finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"We've pulled games out before, but it's been a long time," Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. "When you don't win as much lately, it gets hard. . . . But I was really proud of our guys tonight."
With the victory, Maryland (15-11, 6-9 ACC) moved into a three-way tie for sixth place in the league, joining Florida State and Virginia. The Terrapins will host the Cavaliers in their regular season finale Sunday night -- a game that will have a huge impact on the hopes of both teams to make the NCAA tournament.
Beat Virginia, and the Terps will have a seventh ACC victory -- which many observers believe should be enough to earn any ACC team a berth in the NCAA tournament. A win would also guarantee the Terps finish no worse than sixth in the league. Lose to the Cavaliers, and the Terps could, possibly, still fall into the play-in game of the ACC tournament -- in which the eighth- and ninth-place teams face off for the right to face the top seed.
If Maryland had played most of the season like it played most of the first half against N.C. State , its NCAA fate would have been determined long ago.
The Terps, who have frequently failed to bring the required energy from the opening tip, didn't have that problem Wednesday, seizing an 11-3 lead.
So much was different about the Terps during that opening stretch. There was Smith -- who had scored all of 17 points over his past four games -- looking much more like the solid ACC player he was early in the season. With just under eight minutes left in the half, Smith hit a baseline jumper to give him eight points, and Maryland's lead was 28-14.
Smith's jumper came in the middle of a flurry from Gilchrist, who has been the Terps' best offensive option for most of the ACC season.
When Gilchrist got on the court after sitting for just more than five minutes, he had an immediate impact. During one stretch, he scored 13 of 17 Maryland points in all manners -- even throwing an inbounds pass off the back of an N.C. State player, retrieving the ball and laying it in. That set the offensive tone for the Terps -- who shot 52 percent in the first half -- and when freshman guard Mike Jones hit his second three-pointer with 3:40 remaining, the Terps led 40-23.
The Wolfpack scored the final six points of the first half, however, and went into the intermission down only 44-34.
Naturally, that was further whittled down. Marcus Melvin hit a three on the Pack's first possession after halftime. When forward Ilian Evtimov nailed three-pointers on consecutive possessions in the first five minutes after halftime, the Wolfpack led 52-50 its first advantage since 3-2.
Given the chance to fold, the Terps declined, and from there, it was back-and-forth. Maryland's Nik Caner-Medley hit a three-pointer to give the Terps the lead back, the first of five lead changes and two ties in the next six minutes.
Maryland led by six with 2:17 left when Hodge scored in the lane, and Melvin hit two free throws to cut the lead to two. With a minute left, Caner-Medley missed for Maryland, and the Wolfpack called timeout.
Twice, though, State missed chances to tie or force overtime, first on Levi Watkins's missed jumper, then on a wayward three-pointer from Melvin. Smith hit 1 of 2 free throws for Maryland with 18 seconds remaining for a 69-66 lead, and when Melvin missed yet another three-pointer, Smith made the first of two with 4.5 seconds remaining, sealing a victory -- when no other outcome would have sufficed.