Maryland vs Duke Basketball Recap

Maryland 79, Duke 72

The Duke Blue Devils were playing sound defense. The shot clock was ticking, too.

Seven seconds.

Six seconds.

Five seconds.

Maryland led by just one basket with 39 seconds left in regulation. Clinging to a 71-69 edge, the Terrapins needed to make one more play in order to feel good about their chances of winning the program's biggest basketball game in eight long years.

Someone had to make that play. Someone needed to drive a stake into the heart of a Duke program that - along with North Carolina - has lorded itself over the ACC over the past few decades.

Greivis Vasquez became that special someone. As the shot clock wound down, Vasquez - the dynamic Venezuelan who was playing his final home game as a Maryland superstar - authored a moment no Terps fan will ever forget. A twisting, contortion-filled, 10-foot fadeaway floater found its way through the bottom of the bucket. A low-percentage prayer with seemingly little chance of success had become one of the most amazing crunch-time shots ever seen at the school called "Garyland," out of respect for acclaimed Maryland coach and alumnus Gary Williams. When Greivis Vasquez's impossible shot tickled a ton of twine, an already-boisterous crowd at the Comcast Center went berserk, and with good reason.

That kind of a shot, after all, usually speaks to a sweet and soaring narrative. That kind of a shot generally leads to a successful outcome. That kind of a shot is almost always accompanied by a happy ending.

And so it was.

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Greivis Vasquez didn't invite the percentages to stack up in his favor when he released his impossibly absurd shot in the final minute of a game that meant so much to the University of Maryland community. However, because this sensational superstar willed the orange sphere into the hoop and did what great players manage to do in the crucible of late-season competition, the Turtle - once feared but then dismissed for a period of time - is now back atop the ACC. Yes, for the first time since the 2002 season that brought a national championship to this acclaimed basketball school, Maryland can taste an ACC regular season championship. One more win this coming weekend at Virginia will clinch a shared title with Duke, an absolutely fantastic achievement for the Maryland hoops family.

Just how amazing is this mountaintop moment for Maryland? Consider, among other things, the fact that the Terrapins have only one player taller than 6-9 on their roster, Jordan Williams, who went for 15 points and 11 boards in this game against the power of Duke's 7-1 center, Brian Zoubek. Also note the fact that Williams - talented but raw - is a freshman. Gary Williams - Jordan's coach - and the rest of the Maryland staff have worked wonders in 2010, finding ways to minimize bad matchups while putting their players in position to succeed. This pattern was once again in evidence on Wednesday, as the Terps used a transition offense to work around Duke's defense and minimize the Blue Devils' advantage on the boards.

With Vasquez doing his thing and fellow guard Adrian Bowie hitting a number of clutch jumpers in the second half, the home team - which cooled off after a blistering start (19 points in the first seven minutes and four seconds of action) - was able to keep pace with Duke. Coach Mike Krzyzewski saw his Blue Devils get 39 points from the starting backcourt combo of Nolan Smith (20 points) and Jon Scheyer (19), but those two guards needed 38 shots to obtain 39 points in the first place. Maryland was thoroughly prepared at the defensive end, a testament to the team's intensity but also to "Garyland's" coaching acumen.

You could choose to take the skeptical view of this landmark Terp triumph and say that Vasquez's unforgettable shot - which has already earned a lasting place in Maryland lore, and will only grow in stature as the years go by - was an absurd heave that had no business going in. Perhaps that's true. However, one also has to account for the fact that Maryland was in position to win with just one additional bucket in the final 40 seconds of regulation time. Much as a favored team should never put itself in a position to lose, an underdog is to be credited with putting itself in a position to benefit from one improbable play.

Greivis Vasquez should be the ACC Player of the Year in 2010. Gary Williams should be the Coach of the Year.

It only makes sense, then, that the Maryland Terrapins should be viewed as the team of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It's time to revel in College Park... and party like its 2002.



By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer