Written by Teon Abrams
The last time the Maryland Terrapins beat the North Carolina Tar Heels at Comcast Center was on January 14, 2004. The score was 90-84, and at the time, the Tar Heels were the ninth ranked team in the nation. On that day, the Terrapins were led by senior Jamar Smith’s 22 points, John Gilchrist who scored 20 and Nik Caner-Medley who finished with 17 points. The Terrapins’ current seniors had only beaten the Tar Heels one time in their careers but didn't play a big role in that game. However, it appeared senior day came a week early for the Terps as DJ Strawberry led the way with a career high 27 points in the 89-87 upset. Senior Mike Jones was the team’s second leading scorer with 18 points.
Two weeks ago, Maryland beat the Duke Blue Devils which was a big win for a team that was once the talk of the town for failing to make it to the NCAA Tournament three consecutive seasons. "At one time they were 2-5 in the conference and have shown great toughness," said Carolina Coach Roy Williams after his team’s 89-87 loss Sunday night. "They've got themselves right back in it. I'm happy for Gary Williams. It was a tough situation for him the last few years not making the NCAA Tournament but needless to say his club is doing some great things right now."
The Maryland Terrapins (22-7, 8-6 ACC) knew what they were getting themselves into when they stepped on the court against the fifth ranked Tar Heels (24-5, 10-4 ACC). Carolina’s talented freshman Wayne Ellington came out scoring eight of the team’s first ten points as they had a 10-3 lead over the Terps with 17:22 remaining. Early in the half Coach Gary Williams changed his defense into a full-court press. Although Maryland changed their defense, North Carolina's point guard Ty Lawson was still able to break their press defense. The offensive show continued by the Tar Heels who extended their margin to 21-9 with 11:42 remaining in the half. The Terps got themselves together by putting together a 23-13 run to cut the lead 34-32 with 4:32 remaining. By halftime North Carolina had a 44-41 lead. Ellington finished the half with 12 points while Strawberry finished with 10 points. The Terrapins out rebounded the Tar Heels 29-15 in the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, the Tar Heels opened on a mini 4-0 run to increase their lead 48-42. Maryland countered with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 48-48 with 17:24 remaining. The game was then tied again at 52-52 causing a shift in the atmosphere as both teams continuously scored on offense .But North Carolina started to pull away slowly. The Tar Heels took a commanding 77-67 lead with 7:03 remaining in the game, which quieted the entire Comcast Center. With 6:18 left on the clock, Carolina’s Bobby Frasor stole the ball from Mike Jones, went for the fast break lay-up and missed, therefore instead of the Tar Heels extending the lead to 12, Strawberry grabbed the rebound dished the ball to Jones who drained a wide open three pointer. Jones’ three put the Terps within seven points of the Tar Heels.
After Frasor’s crucial miss the change in momentum was evident as the Terps’ intensity jumped 100%. "We have a pretty good belief in ourselves this year," said Coach Gary Williams. "The seniors knew the game wasn't over at the point and they knew we had some time to come back." It was seniors Jones and Strawberry who took over with 6:06 remaining in the game. Jones was set up twice with the same play which allowed him to back down his defender and then settle for a turnaround jumper which worked on every possession that it was used. Strawberry and Jones were taking turns dominating the young Tar Heel defenders.
"North Carolina plays at fast pace and we try to play at a fast pace, too,'" said Strawberry. "It was just up-and-down the whole game and it wears you out. We could have given up; they had us down by 12 and they were hitting a lot of shots and they were on a roll. We just toughed it out and it shows the heart of this team. We just wanted it more than they did."
The Terrapins finally took their first lead of the game 81-80 with 2:47 remaining in the game. The front court of the Maryland Terrapins came up clutch down the stretch with key free throws. The lead continued to change until the Terrapins took an 89-84 lead with 56 seconds remaining. The Tar Heels cut the lead 89-87 with 49 seconds remaining with an open 3 pointer by Wayne Ellington which led to a 30 second Tar Heels timeout. Maryland freshman guard Greivis Vasquez turned the ball over with 19 seconds remaining which led to another Tar Heels 30 second timeout. With four seconds remaining Strawberry fouled Brandon Wright. After missing the first free throw, Wright intentionally missed the second in hopes of Carolina getting the possession and the tie. However, there was no need for overtime as both teams scrambled for the rebound and Maryland came up with the win, which led to students storming the court. After the game Gary Williams stated the atmosphere reminded him of the legendary Cole Field House where the Terrapins use to play.
"It's a great feeling to beat the No.5 team in the nation and to beat North Carolina, it's such a traditional team," said Maryland Forward James Gist. "For them to come in here tonight and for us to get this win is really great."
While the game belonged to the Maryland seniors, their teammates didn’t let them down as Vasquez finished with 10 points and 6 assists, junior transfer Bambale Osby came off the bench with 11 points and junior James Gist finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. North Carolina was led by Tyler Hansbrough’s 22 points, Ellington who finished with 17 points and Wright who scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Notes: The Maryland Terrapins finished the game on a 22-10 run with 7:03 remaining in the game. Also, they out rebounded the Tar Heels, who leads the ACC in rebounds, 46-33. The Terrapins take on the Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium for an epic rematch. Duke will be looking for revenge. The Terrapins finished their regular season on Saturday afternoon against North Carolina State Wolfpack. It will be Senior Day for D.J. Strawberry, Mike Jones, Ekene Ibekwe, Will Bowers, Parrish Brown and Gini Chukura.
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