Terps win, ACC rolls

The Terps put together their best game of the season on Wednesday night to beat Illinois, 69-61, at the Comcast Center. Maryland put together a 40 minute game on their way to the team's first big win of the young season.

The defense was again stifling, limiting Illinois to just 24 of 72 shooting from the field while keeping them off the free throw line in a game that saw a very low number of fouls called. On offense the team played well enough, scoring just under a point per possession against what should be a very strong defensive team. Maryland limited turnovers for the second straight game, giving up the ball just 12 times in an estimated 70 possessions.

Individually, Eric Hayes may have been the player of the game, scoring 16 points and hitting 4 three point shots, displaying a renewed shooting touch that carried over from the Lehigh game. Freshman center Braxton Dupree got his second consecutive start and made the most of it once again, scoring 10 points and grabbing 5 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.

Cliff Tucker was the other freshman to have a breakout game, scoring 9 points and snaring 5 rebounds in just 12 minutes in relief of Landon Milbourne. Tucker showed more assertiveness in the offense and also displayed previously unseen shooting skill on a few occasions. Milbourne again failed to get comfortable and make an impact on the game in his time, and it would seem that Tucker should soon push for more time.

Greivis Vasquez had another mixed bag of a game. The good was dishing 10 assists against just 2 turnovers, running the offense smoothly, and having 7 rebounds. The bad was an atrocious 2 for 14 shooting night that included another o-fer on seven shots from behind the arc. That puts him at an obscene 7-39 from deep through 7 games.

On the defensive end the Terps gave up a few open shots from the perimeter while letting Illinois get very little in the way of good looks close to the basket. No doubt the Illini are not the best of offensive teams, to put it kindly, but another stifling defensive effort (with a nice performance from an emerging Jerome Burney) leads one to believe that the defense may once again be very good.

In the shocker of the day, the ACC once again won the "challenge" with the Big Televen winning 8 of the 11 games over the past three days. At this point shouldn't the ACC be looking to more competitive series against the SEC or the Pac-Ten?