The Maryland Terps (19 wins and 13 loses) pulled ahead in the 2nd half and won the first round ACC tournament game 74 – 69 over NC State (16 wins and 14 loses).
For the first 12 minutes, the Terps were no shows scoring only 8 points. Then, suddenly, the lights came on for the Turtles. Down 21-8, the Terps tied the game at 29 for the half.
What a great game Eric Hayes had. A career high 21 points. He was the offensive MVP for the Turtles. Dino Gregory blocked 3 shots, scored 6 points and had 5 rebounds. A very solid game. I would give the defensive MVP to the diamond zone that the Terps went to trailing 21 to 8. The very active 3-2 zone limited the Wolfpack to many, late in the shot clock, jump shots.
Greivis played a solid game. ESPN had him down for a double / double of of 17 points and 10 assists. The official box score has only 6 assists. Whatever the final total, he was ok at point guard and very good at small forward.
So the Turtles live to play another day. We still need one more win to get to the NCAA tournament. Friday at 7pm the Terps get the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake is ver, very good. As I wrote a week ago on Tuesday, if Wake stayed together for another year, they would be favorites to get to the final 4. Gary can get the Terps up for this game because Wake is that good. Gary and the guys against the world.
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