Maryland Basketball: Gary Hears A Hoo

Virginia Cavaliers (15-6, 7-2 ACC) at
Maryland Terrapins (17-6, 3-5 ACC)
Comcast Center - College Park, MD

So what did we learn from the first game against Virginia? Anything? The final score wasn’t pretty. The box score wasn’t pretty. The UVA fans, as usual, weren’t pretty. Hopefully something will change tonight.

Even though the game is still freshly burned into the back of skull, I felt the need to check out the stats just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Sean Singletary had a good night. But that is to be expected. 25 points on 5 for 12 shooting and seven assists is about par for the course with him. That wasn’t what bothered me. How about J.R. Reynolds scoring 17 with 7 boards. Jason Cain threw in another 13 points and a career-high, by far, 16 rebounds. Jamil Tucker came off the bench for a career high 12 points. And last, but not least, Mamadi Diane scored a career high 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting. You see where I’m going with this? When you give up career highs to three different players in the same game, things aren’t going to turn out well. I’m not sure what’s more disturbing from this first game. Virginia shot nearly 45% from the field. They out rebounded the Terps by 13, including an almost preposterous 2 to 1 margin on the offensive glass. The Hoos shot a whopping 49 FREE THROWS because they weren’t afraid to drive to the hoop. And it’s worth repeating…Jason Cain, who is a complete waste of space, got 16 rebounds. That’s incredibly embarrassing.

So despite Maryland having all five starters put up double-figures, Maryland lost handedly. And Virginia still has room to improve on that performance. Reynolds usually does better than 17 and 7 against Maryland. Virginia committed 20 turnovers. And the bench, other than Tucker, didn’t contribute much. So it could be much worse tonight if Maryland shows up with the defense they did last month.

On the other hand, Virginia, more so than any team in the league, traditionally plays radically worse on the road than it does at home. They are on a six game winning streak, which is way too many for a team that has several obvious flaws like they do. They have a game with another rival, Virginia Tech, on the horizon. In other words, they are due for a stinker.

Maryland’s defense, which never seems to make it on to the overhead compartments when they travel, usually shows up at home. It’s hard to remember that considering Maryland has had exactly one home game the past 23 days (Yes, that’s right…thank you ACC scheduling wizards. Next year, would it be alright if we borrow one of Duke’s 13 ACC home games? Much obliged). But usually Maryland’s defense is 10 to 15 points better at home.

However, I don’t see this one going Maryland’s way. The Terps will probably focus on Singletary way too much, as usual. He’ll still score 20 to 25 points and the rest of Virginia will go off as well. Plus, you know Maryland is already looking ahead to you know who this Sunday. The Terps remind me a lot of the mid 90’s Redskins. For awhile, brain surgeon Norv Turner had a superb record against the Girls, but was something like 0-12 in the weeks before and after Dallas games. While the Terps always give the Dookies fits, their record before and after those games is not pretty to look at. Maryland will play better against Virginia tonight than they did in Charlottesville, but not better enough to grab a needed home win.

Virginia 87
Maryland 81

Elsewhere around the ACC…

I was only 3-3 last week, so the record is a modest 30-15.

TUESDAY
NC State at Georgia Tech
I said at the beginning of the season that NC State would be lucky to win more than three conference games. Despite two shocking wins and a 3-5 record, I still believe that. So here begins an eight game losing streak for the Wolfpack.
Pick: Georgia Tech 73, NC State 66

WEDNESDAY
Boston College at Miami
Doesn’t this seem like the fourth time these teams have played this season? Do they just keep traveling back and forth between Coral Gables and Chestnut Hill? This game will much closer than expected, as BC is due for a let down after their win over Virginia Tech and game coming up against FSU and Duke.
Pick: Boston College 75, Miami 70

Florida State at Clemson
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but here is a huge game for both teams and the rest of the ACC. Clemson continues to tank, while Florida State comes off two impressive victories. Clemson has had a week to stew over their skid and I can only assume that old-school FSU will show up on the road and lay an egg.
Pick: Clemson 83, Florida State 72

North Carolina at Duke
Now things start to get real interesting for the Dookies. At 5-4, and after what seemingly has been two months of home games, the Blow Devils have to take their show on the road after this game in four of their final six. None of the four road games are really winnable (Maryland, Boston College, Clemson and UNC) and the home games against Maryland (as always, expect the Terps to give them problems) and Georgia Tech (a team they’ve already lost to) aren’t walks in the park. The Dookies could be looking at five more losses by the end of the season. 7-9 should not get you into the tournament. It will be interesting to see what the committee does if that happens. Knowing the NCAA, that will probably be enough to get Duke a protected #2 seed in the tournament.
Pick: North Carolina 88, Duke 71