North Carolina State University Athletics
Maryland Eliminates Pack From ACC Tournament, 74-69
3/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
ATLANTA Maryland’s off-the-bench guard outscored NC State’s surprise off-the-bench guard, and that was the difference in Thursday night’s 74-69 Terrapin victory in the first round of the 56th-annual ACC Basketball Tournament.
Terp junior Eric Hayes scored a career-high 21 points for his team, and was especially effective midway through the first half and at the free throw line in the game’s final two minutes.
Meanwhile, Wolfpack freshman Julius Mays, who had scored only one point in the team’s previous 10 games, came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points. Mays had played just one minute in the Wolfpack’s last six games.
After a topsy-turvy first half, the teams battled throughout the second half, at one point trading the lead on eight consecutive possessions. The Wolfpack owned a 62-61 advantage with 4:05 remaining, but the Terps converted on 15 of its last 16 possessions, scoring 10 unanswered points to take control of the game.
The Wolfpack’s ball-screen defense broke down, and Maryland was able to score on outside jumpers and free throws by Hayes.
State coach Sidney Lowe believed his team settled for too many outside jumpers, getting away from its inside scoring that was effective early in the game. The Wolfpack attempted 27 3-point shots, making only six.
“I thought a couple of our guys settled and the guards jacked them up,” Lowe said. “We wanted to continue being patient. That is a lot of 3-points for me, especially when we have guys like Ben McCauley and Tracy Smith inside. When we went in there, we got something good.”
Mays earned his playing time over the last week in practice, when he impressed the coaching staff with his scoring and overall play. With starter Javi Gonzalez on the bench and junior Farnold Degand out of the game for disciplinary reasons, Mays became the Wolfpack’s primary ball-handler.
“Our offense just got stagnant there at the end,” said Mays, whose previous career high was 12 points. “We were not getting enough movement and we were getting away from the stuff we were doing.
“After they started hitting some 3s and free throws, it was hard for us to come back after that.”
The Wolfpack, which is now 16-14 on the year, led 62-61 with four minutes to play, but didn’t score again until Mays hit the final of his three 3-pointers of the night with 38.7 seconds remaining.
Maryland led by as many as five early in the second half, but the Wolfpack answered with back-to-back baskets by senior Ben McCauley and freshman C.J. Williams.
The Terps (19-12) grabbed the lead on a drive by Sean Mosley, a 3-pointer by Junior Greivis Vasquez and five straight free throws by junior Eric Hayes. Vazquez, who scored 33 earlier this month in Raleigh, finished with 17 points, but added 10 assists for his team.
The yin-and-yang first half featured a pair of 21-8 runs. The Wolfpack jumped out to that lead, with balanced scoring that featured 3-pointers by Javi Gonzalez and C.J. Williams and pull-up jumper by Mays.
However, leading-scorer Brandon Costner picked up two quick fouls and played just three minutes in the first half, forcing Lowe to rely on junior Dennis Horner and senior Simon Harris in Costner’s absence.
Lowe’s team increased its lead with Costner on the bench, and senior Courtney Fells hit a 16-foot jumper with 6:45 remaining in the first half to give the Wolfpack a 25-14 lead, its biggest of the night.
Maryland began pressing the Wolfpack in the backcourt, forcing turnovers and scoring 14 unanswered points. Even though Vasquez was held to just four points, the Terps came back behind the scoring of Hayes, who made a trio of 3-pointers before halftime.
McCauley ended his team’s 5:05 scoring drought with a layup, and the teams went to the locker room knotted 29-29.
The Wolfpack will now wait until Monday to find out if its season will continue, with post-season tournament bids are finalized.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
