Although Virginia Tech's Dorenzo Hudson was the player vomiting on the Comcast Center floor last night--it was Maryland that coughed up an 11 point second half lead as the Terps tumbled 69-65 to the Hokies. The season-saving win by Seth Greenberg's team (more on him later) is a major head-scratcher for what was until yesterday the ACC's hottest team.
The seeds to defeat were sown midway through the first half when James Gist and Bambale Osby both went to the bench with foul trouble at the 6:35 mark--without the two big men to pound the post with, Maryland managed just one basket in their last 23 possessions of the first half and a 28-14 advantage shrunk to 31-29 at intermission.
Credit Virginia Tech with playing bumber-car basketball-- the Hokies physical style is similar to the other former Big East schools competing in the ACC...and Maryland's 4-11 against those schools since they joined up. The Hokies also got prime production from DC native Jeff Allen (14 points and 14 rebounds) and A.D. Vassallo (11 of his 19 points-including 2 threes-came in the game's last four minutes).
Instead of being 8-4 in the conference with some breathing room entering a tough stretch, Gary Williams takes a 7-5 squad that has lost two of three (and trailed second-division Florida State for much of their one win) to Miami,Wake Forest and Clemson in succession: the Terps were swept by the Hurricanes last year, the Demon Deacons are fresh off an upset of #2 Duke and the Tigers have had the reputation as the ACC's third-best team for much of the year.
One couldn't help but notice an interesting handshake between the two coaches-- Seth Greenberg and Gary Williams didn't even look at each other while briefly shaking hands before and after the game...any bad blood between the two might be stemming from the de-committing of Hokie recruit Augustus Gilchrist after the Blacksburg shootings last spring and his subsequent signing with Maryland. It's rare to see a player transfer inside the conference (Luke Recker from Indiana to Iowa the only one I can think of)--these coaches compete on the court and recruiting trail and it's somewhat of a give not to go after players once they've signed with someone else. Still, the tragedies of last April are a special situation-and a young man who was leaving home for the first time should have been given the latitude to re-think his decision to attend Virginia Tech. It's a shame there's an apparent rift between these two sideline generals, although it makes the media's job more interesting.
One last thing about vomiting...shouldn't throwing up on the court be a one-shot foul plus possession?
Congratulations to George Mason coach Jim Larranaga in posting his 400th career victory as the Patriots prevailed over Delaware 70-58, avenging a loss from January. Will Thomas scored 18 of his 24 points after halftime; the forward also added 12 rebounds in the win. While the top seed in the CAA Tournament is a longshot at best (GMU needs to win twice while hoping for VCU to lose twice and UNCW to split their remaining games), the Patriots have a chance to boost their at-large profile Saturday with a Bracket-Buster game at Ohio.
American is one step closer to homecourt advantage for the Patriot League Tournament; while the Eagles' 49-40 triumph over Army wasn't the prettiest of games, AU wins its 6th straight game for the first time in 20 years and is a win over Navy away from clinching the conference title. Garrison Carr was the only Eagle scoring in double figures with 16 points despite 4 of 14 shooting--American as a team shot just 28% from the field.
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