I just couldn’t manage to talk about the Maryland loss right after the game. I felt like I had my heart ripped out.
Then I had to catch up on all of the schoolwork that I didn’t do over spring break, which brings us to today.
The loss was probably the toughest loss that I can recall from my years of following my hometown teams. Never had I experienced such a swing of emotions in such a short period of time during a sporting event, with such a heartbreaking end. Not only was it the end of the season, but also an end of an era — the Greivis Vasquez era. Does it qualify as it the toughest loss in Maryland basketball history? I’m not in a position to talk about if it does or not, but this 85-83 loss to Michigan State certainly has to rank right up there with Maryland’s most painful defeats.
Certainly what will be remembered about this game will be the final two minutes and Korie Lucious’ dagger into College Park:
One can criticize Maryland’s defense for not getting a hand in the face of Lucious. One can criticize Maryland for not sticking with the full-court press that enabled them to come back in the final minutes.
(But please, no one should ever criticize Vasquez for taking his go-ahead shot with six seconds left on the clock. The primary concern for Vasquez in that situation is to get a good look. He got a good look, he took the shot and made it. The clock is a secondary concern in that situation).
But in the end, Lucious just hit the shot of his life. It’s the NCAA Tournament, when buzzer beaters occur at an seemingly alarming rate. Lucious hit the shot. Tip your cap to him for making the shot in such a high pressure situation.
It’s the NCAA Tournament. One buzzer beater and you’re done for the year. Maryland’s not the first team to have this feeling, and certainly won’t be the last.
Looking at the play, though, one can see how close Draymond Green gets to hitting one of his own teammates in the head with his pass that eventually makes its way over to Lucious for the game-winning shot.
Also remembered in this game will be Vasquez’s gritty efforts in the last two minutes, scoring 10 points in the last two minutes of the game after struggling all game with his shot and having trouble getting to the hoop off of the bounce. In his four years at Maryland, even if he was having a bad shooting day, not once would Vasquez stop shooting. He’d want the ball at the end of the game in every single close game that Maryland played during his time in College Park. And in the final two minutes of his Maryland career, Vasquez showed the kind of winning player he developed into.
What won’t be remembered is how thoroughly Michigan State was handling Maryland for the first 38 minutes of the game. Michigan State’s inside-out offensive balance was troubling Maryland’s defense, as was Michigan State’s significant advantage over Maryland on the boards (35 rebounds to Maryland’s 21 for the game). It also helped that Michigan State was shooting the lights out from three-point range, led by Durrell Summers’ 6-for-7 three point shooting effort on the day. With 8:42 left in regulation, Michigan State had stretched its lead to 15 points with a Lucious three ball.
Really, what kept Maryland in the game at all was Eric Hayes’ performance, as he was the only Terrapin to have a good shooting day. Hayes went for 18 points, while going 4-for-7 from three point land.
For 38 minutes, Michigan State looked handily better than Maryland, even with its best player on the bench, Kalin Lucas (who would have been a very useful, calming presence for Michigan State in those last two frenetic minutes). For 38 minutes, it looked like this might be the anti-climactic end for one of the most unique and interesting chapters in Maryland basketball history.
So quickly, all of that vanished.
It’s part of the beauty of basketball — one team can dominate another team for most of the game, but with one quick run, boom, it’s a tie game.
Maryland just happened to be on the business end of what the NCAA Tournament is all about.
Some other tidbits on the game…
-Starter Sean Mosley only played 14 minutes, while Adrian Bowie played 27 minutes off the bench and Cliff Tucker, 14. Gary Williams seemed to prefer the quicker Bowie and Tucker over Mosley against Michigan State as the game wore on, especially when Maryland went to a full-court press. But, I believe Mosley is Maryland’s best defender and could have been used in a bigger role during the game, especially in the case of slowing down Michigan State’s three point shooting (10-for-18 on the day).
-For the first 38 minutes of the game, Maryland was in a tough situation regarding its full-court press. The only time Maryland could get easy points was off of a successful press, but when Michigan State broke the press, it often found three-point shooters like Summers wide open for three pointers. At the end of regulation, though, Maryland’s press worked to perfection.
-For the game, Vasquez scored 26 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Jordan Williams had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Landon Milbourne went for 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
-Williams, though, will be remembered in this game for sitting on the court in disbelief after Lucious’ shot connected.
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I guess I was quick to judge vazquez when he didn’t take the extra 2-3 seconds before he took that shot, he needed to get 2 points, he got the look and took them.
At that point you MUST rely on the defense.
What bothered me the most about this game…
Where was the outside defense? Michigan St shot 3′s like it was no body’s business to stop them. Adding onto this, the three point buzzer beater, you know they can shoot them therefore you MUST defend them and not give them the look. I mean seriously, how many three’s must a team hit from the left corner until you put someone over there to defend them? I would have rather had every Terp on the outside protecting the 3, and have Mich st. drove inside for 2 to tie it up.
Where was the full court press? EVERY time Maryland pressed them, Michigan St had issues in bounding the ball and even making it up half court. It seemed to vanish in the last 7 seconds.
But the “Buzzer Beater” is what makes this game so intense and enjoyable, with just seconds left on the clock a team can run up the court and hit a shot to win the game. And from recent memory Maryland had at least one.