Teamwork, defense have Terps in first place

By David Driver
Posted: January 27, 2010

Raise your hand if you had Maryland at 4-1 and North Carolina at 2-3 at this point in the ACC basketball season. But that is the case after Tuesday night, as the Terps beat Miami, 81-59, to take over first place by their lonesome in the league. The Terps and Virginia both entered the night 3-1 in the ACC; the Cavaliers play Virginia Tech on Thursday.

UNC, which had lost three straight, beat North Carolina State on Tuesday. Maryland is 6-1 this month and the last time the Terps began league play at 4-1 was in 2002-03, the year it won the NCAA title. Even so, the Terps are not ranked in the AP top 25, though that may change if Maryland wins at Clemson on Sunday.

Clemson, under Maryland native and head coach Oliver Purnell, lost at Boston College, 75-69, on Tuesday. The Terps beat BC, 73-57, earlier this month.

Despite the good fortunes of Maryland, the gloom-and-doom quote of the night belonged to Terps senior guard Eric Hayes. “It’s all great what we’ve done so far, but we know it can turn real fast for us and quickly go downhill,” he said. Downhill? Hayes, from northern Virginia, has been around coaches too long. His father is a longtime prep coach and now Hayes has been around Gary Williams for nearly four years, so the sky-is-falling approach that many coaches adapt must have rubbed off on Hayes. Come on Eric, enjoy this while it lasts. And it may last a little longer. With five more wins, and maybe just four, and the Terps are headed to the NCAA tournament.

The Terps may not be the most talented team in the league, but Maryland’s strong defense and unselfish play on offense has been a key. Maryland came within five points of having seven players in double figures against Miami. It was not a good night for the ‘Canes, who fell to 1-5 in the ACC and may have the ugliest uniforms on the East Coast. Dwayne Collins, who had started the first 19 games, came off the bench after he was late for the bus earlier this week. He still managed a team-high 10 rebounds, though he scored just five points, about seven off his average. Former Lake Clifton High star Antoine Allen, a guard for Miami, played five minutes off the bench and missed his only shot. He had one steal and one turnover.

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