WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - With less than three seconds remaining in regulation, Maryland sophomore guard Sean Mosley found himself forced to take a potential game winning shot. Up until this moment, Mosley had been fairly quiet. Aside from some key rebounds and hustle plays for loose balls, he was under the radar for most of the game.

 

That was until Greivis Vasquez held possession of the ball as Maryland (10-5, 1-1) dribbled down the clock in regulation for a chance to win a 76-76 ball game against ACC opponent Wake Forest (12-3, 2-1).

Vasquez made his move with about 10 seconds remaining in the game. As he dribbled to his left, Mosley came off of a screen that left him open at the free throw line. Vasquez, as he was caught in mid-air with nowhere to go, spotted Mosley and dished him the ball. Mosley caught the pass in rhythm, rose to shoot, but was bothered a split second before his release by a Demon Deacon defender and missed, clanging the ball off the side of the rim, sending the game into overtime where the Terps would later fall 85-83.

Blaming Mosley for missing the shot would not be fair at all. Expecting Mosley to make the shot shows the confidence the coaches and his teammates have in his skills. But having Mosley take the shot rose many eyebrows as the guard had not been as involved in the offense—at least as much as some of his other teammates on the floor seemed to be.

Before Maryland tied the game late in the second half, they needed three consecutive three pointers to even get to that point. Seniors: guard Eric Hayes, forward Landon Milbourne and Vasquez all were involved in the offense to a heavy degree as Maryland fought there way past turnover and rebounding issues to keep the game from getting away from them.

Maryland’s turnover issues began as the game began when they coughed up the ball on three straight possessions but were able to counter the potential disastrous effects by knocking down three of three from long range to grab a 15-11 lead.

But Wake was able to battle back by converting on two consecutive three-point plays to grab a 23-21 lead as they scored six unanswered points.

From that point in the first half, Maryland’s offensive flow seemed to be shaken as they missed on multiple close range shot attempts and layups. Maryland’s struggles combined with a Wake alley-oop provided by Al-Farouq Aminu (24 points, 13 rebounds) from Ishmael smith (16 points, 8 assists)—which got a rise out of the crowd and in turn energized the Deacons, put the Terps in an awkward position where Vasquez was left to create offense on the majority of Maryland’s possessions.

The first half commenced a high scoring affair as Wake was up 40-39 at intermission.

Wake led most of the second half until Mosley’s hustle plays (13 rebounds) and Vasquez’s inconsistent, but timely, offensive night began to take form. When Vasquez wasn’t hitting shots on his own or going to the free throw line where he was 8 of 11, he was finding Hayes and Milbourne for wide open shots as Wake collapsed on him. In fact, a play drawn up for Milbourne late in regulation where the senior forward hit a very clutch three-pointer, gave Maryland the lead at 71-70 but Wake was able to battle back and tie the game to send it into overtime where they eventually eked out a win.

The Terrapins loss cannot be explained by mere statistics. Especially when they outperformed Wake on the boards 43-41, at the free throw line and had a much better assist-to-turnover ratio. Maryland’s problem was getting those rebounds at key moments, because as they failed to do so Wake was able to score crucial second chance points and gain momentum. Wake outscored Maryland 38-28 in the paint and much of that seemed to be fast break opportunities and second effort plays. Not to say that Maryland did not give effort, but when an ACC rival is involved and you are the visiting team, it is simply tough to get a win; needless to say, it is even tougher when your team shoots just 40% for the game and has 15 turnovers.

But the Terrapins are resilient and have bounced back well all season. And they will look to do so against ACC opponent Boston College on January 16.