Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

After beating both Duke and North Carolina in back-to-back outings, the greatest danger facing the Terrapins today was not NC State, but themselves. Maryland avoided the let-down and in the process ran its record this year to a perfect 6-0 against the state of North Carolina.

The final score, 79-59, and the large margin of victory was in some ways not indicative of the game. The Terrapins were not lighting it up from the floor, but they were able to put up 70 shots in a 68 possession game thanks to rebounding 45 percent of their misses. Furthermore, the Terrapins held NC State to mostly one-and-out possessions by grabbing 75 percent of their defensive rebounding opportunities.

Add in 9 blocked shots, some of which led to easy opportunities for Strawberry and Jones, and Maryland was able to score 1.16 points per possession versus 0.87 for NC State. The points per possession was the highest for the Terrapins since their last game against NC State on February 14, when Maryland scored 1.18 points per possession.

At TRR we continue to believe that rebounding is the key for the Terrapins. When they hold the defensive glass and hit the offensive glass it complements everything else the Terrapins are trying to do.

On Senior Day, it was fitting that Maryland was led by its senior trio of Strawberry, Jones, and Ibekwe. While Strawberry had 16 points and 6 boards, Jones scored 21 points and grabbed 6 boards in 28 minutes of play. Perhaps more importantly, Jones scored these points despite only shooting 2 for 4 from behind the arc. Add Jones to the duo of Strawberry and Vasquez who can score in the open court and Maryland becomes even more dangerous.

Finally, Ekene Ibekwe scored 14 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots. Together with James Gist (10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks), Maryland's bigs frustrated Costner and held McCauley to only 8 points on 9 shots in 34 minutes.

Maryland has now improved its record to 24-7 and 10-6 in conference. During the game, Jimmy Dykes was comenting that Maryland is being talked about as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A No. 4 seed in the tournament, but no ranking in the top 25? As Bill Walton would say, "Puh-leease." Maryland deserves more respect.

NC State falls to 15-14 overall and 5-11 in conference. Despite being undermanned in nearly every game, Lowe's squad never gave up and the frontline will prvide a nice base for next year. Throw in some new recruits and the Wolfpack will have reason for optimism.