COLLEGE PARK, MD – Despite a record setting storm that dumped up to three feet of snow in the Washington, D.C. area, basketball was still played in College Park, MD on Sunday afternoon as the Maryland Terrapins knocked and dominated the defending National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels, 92-71. Despite the snow, a large crowd, mostly students, filled into the Comcast Center and made their presence known to the struggling Tar Heels.

 

Senior guard Greivis Vasquez led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 11 assists and five rebounds.
 
The game started out close in the first five minutes, with both teams looking a little rusty and the score was tied at six all just over three minutes into the half. But that would be as close as UNC would get for the remainder of the game. The Terps were able to convert of nine of sixteen three-point attempts in the first half and went into halftime with a ten-point lead.
 
"We don't go in there saying we're going to take this many threes or anything like that” said head coach Gary Williams. “The ball moved pretty well and we had good 3-point shooters.”
 
The Terps finished the game shooting 52.2% from beyond the arc and converted 12 three-point attempts, tying their season high.  Maryland also shot 51.5% from the field and 83.3% from the free throw line.
 
The second half saw the Terps build on their ten-point lead, quickly pushing it up to 13 points.  But just when the game started to look like a possible blow out, North Carolina went on a 12-2 run that quickly cut Maryland’s lead down to three with just over fourteen minutes remaining in the game.
 
"There was a point there when I was little concerned early in the second half, they were playing well” said Maryland head coach Gary Williams. “[Marcus] Ginyard came out and made a big shot and gave them some confidence early in the half. We weren't moving very well and we had to dig deep to get it going again.”
 
The Terps did get it going again, responding after a 30 second time out called by Gary Williams, with a big run of their own, outscoring UNC 14-2. Maryland seemed to get back into an offensive flow and used good defense to create offense, scoring on a number of fast break points. The Tar Heels never again challenged for the lead, and lost their sixth game in their last seven tries.
 
North Carolina coach Roy Williams must be very happy that Sunday’s game against the Terps will hopefully be the last time one of his teams has to face Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez. The senior guard again dominated the Tar Heels, in much the same way he did last time UNC visited College Park. In that overtime game last season, Vasquez recorded a triple-double, scoring 35 points, dishing out 10 assists and grabbing 11 rebounds. In the five games Vasquez has played against UNC, he’s averaged 19.2 points and eight assists. The Terps are also 4-1 in those games.
 
"Well I just think he's such an emotional player, he's so important to the team,” said North Carolina’s head coach Roy Williams. “He gives them talent, he gives them enthusiasm, he gives them emotion, he gives them cockiness. You know, 11 assists, he may have four turnovers, but he's making things happen."
 
Landon Milbourne (15 points) and Eric Hayes (16 points) joined Greivis Vasquez as the only Maryland players to reach double digits in scoring. Hayes scored his sixteen points on just six shot attempts from the field.
 
The Tar Heels had four players reach double figures, lead by Marcus Ginyard’s 17 points. Forward Ed Davis recorded a double-double for UNC, grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds to go along with 10 points.
 
The Terps’ next game is on Wednesday, February 10th, at 7:00 P.M. against the University of Virginia.