The Washington D.C. area has had a tough year so far for hoops fans. Before the NBA and NCAA seasons began, both the Washington Wizards and Maryland Terrapins had high hopes of making deep post-season runs. While both have either struggled at times(Maryland) or imploded(Wizards), Maryland has apparently righted the ship after a mid-season swoon to again be players in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Coming into their game with a Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets squad which had been in and out of the Top 25 all season, senior point guard Greivis Vasquez had been on a tear by averaging 24.5 ppg, 6.5 rebs, and 7.3 ast over his last 5 games, helping the surging Terps win 4 of their last 5 games to inch within one game of first place Duke(11-2) in the ACC.
A win over Georgia Tech(18-8), who have an RPI score of under 50, would bolster Maryland’s chances of making a return trip to the NCAA Tournament for the 8th time in the past 10 seasons. The Yellow Jackets have been struggling as of late by posting a 4-4 record in their last 8 games even though they started the season 11-2 before the New Year. Highly touted freshman, Derrick Favors(11.5 ppg, 8.5 rebs, 2 blks) has been every bit as good as advertised by ranking among the nation’s leaders in double-doubles in points and rebounds.
With both teams having a lot at stake in the match-up, experts predicted a tightly contested game between conference rivals. Both teams didn’t disappoint as Favors’ tip in with only 3 seconds remaining put GT up by 1 point. Maryland then in-bounded the ball to Vazquez who promptly banked in a half-court shot which would have won the game, except for the fact that a Maryland assistant called time-out to set up a play.
After setting up quick hitter, Maryland again in-bounded the ball as seldom used junior guard, Cliff Tucker curled off of a pick and hit a 3 point shot at the buzzer to give the Terps a 76-74 victory. The win spoiled a great game by GT’s Favors, who tallied 21 points and 18 rebounds, his 10th double-double of his freshman campaign. The win moved Maryland(19-7, 9-3 ACC) to within one game in the loss column of the Blue Devils(11-2) in conference and almost assuredly will grant the Terps an at-large berth into this season’s NCAA Tourney.
Check out footage of the final minute of play as Maryland hits two game winners to beat GT:
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
