Terps set to meet second seed Memphis Saturday in NCAA's
When Maryland faces Memphis on Saturday at 3:20 p.m. in the second-round of the NCAA tourney, the Terps will be facing a program that has put up impressive numbers in recent seasons.
Memphis has posted four straight 30-win seasons, becoming the first Division I program to ever do that. The Tigers are 32-3 this season and are 136-13 since the beginning of the 2005-06 year.
Memphis own's the nation's longest current win streak at 26 games. It's last loss came on December 20 vs. Syracuse by a 72-65 score. When the Tigers score 80 or more points this season, they are 15-0 and Memphis is 28-1 when leading at the half.
The Tigers have held 11 of their past 13 opponents under 40 percent shooting and own a field goal percentage defense mark of 36.4 on the year. Cal State Northridge did shoot 44 percent in its round one loss vs. Memphis.
The Tigers have won the Conference USA regular season and tourney titles four years in a row and have won 61 straight CUSA games dating to March of 2006.
Maryland is not without its own weapons. Greivis Vasquez is averging 21.6 points per game over his last nine games. Eric Hayes has scored 66 points his past four games and Dave Neal has made 15 of his last 27 three-point shots.
Memphis leads the all-time series, two wins to one vs. Maryland. But the Terps won 84-61 when they last met in November of 2004 in the Hall of Fame Classic.
TERPS BEAT CAL IN ROUND ONE OF WEST REGIONAL
For most of the first 28 minutes of its NCAA tourney game with Cal, Maryland had the lead. But when Cal finally moved in front, ready to take charge, Maryland had the answer and it led the Terps to a first-round win over the Golden Bears.
Cal took a 51-50 lead with 12:10 remaining. The Terps then went on a 9-0 run, featuring three-pointers from Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne, to lead 59-51. Maryland extended that scoring run to 24-8 to take a 15-point lead with 4:56 left and the Terps went on to beat Cal, 84-71.
Now the tenth-seeded Terps, at 21-13, will meet second-seed Memphis in the second-round Saturday in Kansas City's Sprint Center.
The Terps' press and half-court defense kept Cal off its form and the Golden Bears, the nation's top three-point shooting team, made only 7 of 24 from the arc, just 29 percent marksmanship.
Maryland, which led by three at the half, shot 61 percent in out-scoring Cal 50-40 in the second half. The Terps shot 49 percent for the game and out-rebounded Cal, 36-35.
In winning its ninth straight first-round game, Maryland got 27 points from Greivis Vasquez, who made 10 of 21 shots. Dave Neal scored 15, Hayes had 14 and Adrian Bowie added 12 and 7 assists.
Theo Robertson led Cal with 22 as the Bears end their year with five losses in the last seven games and a record of 22-11. Scoring leader Jerome Randle had 14 points, just three after halftime.
The Terps started well and led early by scores of 7-0 and 10-3. Despite shooting just 37.5 percent, Maryland led 34-31 at the break as Cal hit just 3 of 13 three-pointers in the first twenty minutes.
Now Maryland has a showdown with Memphis, which beat Cal State-Northridge, 81-70 in a game in which the Tigers trailed by six points in the middle of the second half. Memphis is 32-3 and owns the nation's longest win streak, now at 26 games.
The Tigers, ranked 3rd in the final AP poll, lost in last year's National Championship game vs. Kansas. Memphis is one of the nation's best defensive teams, holding their opponents to 36 percent shooting on the year. The Maryland-Memphis winner will advance to the Sweet 16 next Thursday in Glendale, Arizona.
Game Notes - Maryland made just nine turnovers.....Bowie, who hit five of nine shots, tied his career high with seven assists.......Vasquez's 27 points ties for 9th best ever by a Terp in an NCAA game........Maryland is now 37-21 all-time in NCAA games and will be looking to make the Sweet 16 for the 14th time and first time since 2003 with a win Saturday.
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Categories (click for archive)NCAA News | Steve Melewski Terps |
Steve, Terrific game. The Terps are really playing well right now, playing as a team. (I hope Lance Stephenson was watching!) The truism/cliche "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" really applies.
After watching them yesterday I like their chances better against Memphis in what should be a tight game. The Terps sent the Tigers a message with their performance against Cal: Hey, we can play some defense too!
If the Terps can make it as far as the Sweet 16, what can Gary's boo birds possibly say. Oh, wait, I know. Didn't make it to the Elite Eight, needs to step down. In reality, of course, the season is already is a success regardless of what happens tomorrow, but some people don't get it.
Tell you what, though, Steve, if Gary can reel in Stephenson to go with Jordan Williams and James Padgett, while getting Greivis to come back for his senior year, not only will he silence his critics who say he can't recruit, but the Terps will be poised to make some real noise next season. Supposedly Lance is going to announce his choice soon.
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I think this season is now clearly a big success and anything from here on out is "gravy" as they say. A couple of the players told me this week the pressure is off now that they made the tourney. Maryland has really come together when it needed it most, very impressive by Gary and these young men. - Steve
Terps by four (Grevis' remarks notwithstanding). Are you with me?!
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I'd love it Ken. Terps can win if they slow Memphis attack with the zone, like vs. Wake. They need to turn Memphis into a jump shooting team, then hold their own on the backboards. Need balanced scoring on offense, I don't see Greivis getting 27 vs. these guys. He will need his sharp passing game vs. Memphis.
Greivis knocking Conf USA was just a bad idea. I don't see how anything good comes from that. At the same time, a Memphis player when asked about Md said they had "one good player."
The longer it stays close the more pressure on Memphis. They are the team that was nearly a one seed and has Final Four plans. A Maryland effort similar to what we saw vs. Cal and they'll be in this game to the end and let's see if they can pull it out at the end. Should be more fun. - Steve
Steve, Memphis is going to be focused defensively on Greivis from the opening tip. I think the Terps should have him going into the game (at least for early on) with the mentality of "distribute first, score second," if he sees that the Tigers are overplaying him. So, yeah, sharp passing is a must for him.
As for the "Greivis being Greivis" remark about C-USA, I can see Gary grimacing a bit when he learned about it, but I don't think it over concerned him. He knows Vasquez so well that I'm sure he accepts this as just part of his guard's personality. Whatever else people say about Greivis Vasquez, there is one thing that's totally undeniable and that's his fierce competitiveness. (I've been following sports seriously for a long time and there are few athletes at any level that have had that much of a drive to excel, which is why I love his play so much and is probably why Gary is able to live with Greivis' excesses.)
Jason King at Yahoo Sports has a column about about him with a great Greivis quote: "Every team Memphis has played was intimidated because they went to the Final Four, but we’re not intimidated by anybody. If they underestimate us, they’re going to be in trouble." Gotta love it. (And this from Dino Gregory on Gary and Greivis: "They’re so similar it's crazy. The stuff they say, the stuff they do, how they act on the court.…You’d think Greivis is Coach Williams’ son.")
And maybe people should be thanking Greivis a little for spicing up things, instead of calling him an "idiot," as some have done. King writes: "Some people like Vasquez. Others hate him. Either way, no player in Kansas City this week has created as much buzz as The Venezuelan Sensation, whose mouth has turned what appeared to be a ho-hum, Saturday afternoon game between Maryland and Memphis into must-watch TV."
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=AvkQ3GyJC2aG3Iq6QXRwODc5nYcB?slug=jn-vasquez032009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
I don't think his remarks are as big a deal as many people seen to believe. First, because you know he's a motor mouth on the court, who won't hesitate to trash talk when he feels like it. The other thing, luckily, is that his comments were made early enough that the Memphis players had a chance to respond with some choice insults of their own about Maryland, which I think largely defuses things. Had they not had that opportunity to vent, then it really would be bulletin board material.
Actually, Dave Neal's comment about the Tigers finding out what the ACC is all about is really just as provocative as those by Vasquez in a way, and given the first round upsets of FSU, Wake and Clemson, loses quite a bit of its power. It goes to remind of that teams play against each other in the NCAA Tourney, not conferences.
If John Calipari's team agrees with the player who said Greivis is the Terps' "one good player," then I say, great!, let them think that and see where it gets them. It won't be to the Sweet 16, that's for sure!
One thing is certain, win or lose the Terps aren't backing down and Memphis will come away with some battle wounds. Go Terps!