The Epicness that is #22 Maryland vs #4 Duke (Game Thread)

[Bosibus]

Maryland was fortunate enough to have Duke miss those FTs, I agree, but I would not call it VERY LUCKY. Duke missed late FTs, this is part of basketball. Not all games are decided by math statistics.

[Dr. FLK]

But its when they missed them...Late in the game..Singler missed 1...Smith missed the front end of a 1 and 1.

Those are 80%+ FT shooters.

And with the FTs, the lead could have been extended to a 2 possession game and that totally changes everything in a close game that is very late in the game.

It's not the Terps fault that none of those guys can handle pressure.

[NewMarketSean]

It is very lucky FOR THE TERPS, that Duke missed key FTs down the stretch(from very good FT shooters) that could have made it a 2 posession game.

That is an absolutely correct statement.

Just as if Duke had won the game because Hayes and Vazquez missed a few FTs late, that would have been lucky for Duke.

People hate that word so bad but it doesn't take away from the truth of the game.

And no, that's not why MD won but making those FTs makes it a totally different game.

You are implying that these games are played in a vacuum...that nothing determines whether or not a team shoots poorly from the floor. The defense, pressure, etc...impacts how a team shoots from the floor. Maybe MD played good defense last night which is why Duke missed some crucial shots. If there is any luck in a game like last night, it might be Duke shooting poorly from the line...but even then there are variables.

The quote that was just posted is very accurate...other than some missed shots in crunch time, it was a well played game on both sides and MD probably won because they were at home. That's not my definition of luck.

And on a neutral court, I think it's a close game win or lose for either team.

[brvn52]

I'm happy for all the MD students, especially the upperclassmen, who finally got to experience a good season and the excitement of a crucial MD- Duke game. Last nights atmosphere was reminiscent of some of the great Cole games of the '90s and early '00s

Thanks man. Last night was incredible. I was definitely glad to see that in my section (101) most of the people that have been most of (if not all of) the games the past 2-3 years were up close. 101 was definitely well represented with us upperclassmen.

Last night was just insane. The hype leading up to the game, the atmosphere at the game, and everything involved was incredible.

At to the fact that the game led up to the hype and it was great.

Oh, and the post-game riots were fun too.

Thank you Maryland Basketball for a night I will never forget.

GO TERPS! 1ST PLACE BABY!!!

[Sports Guy]

I live and die for the Terps, but I can acknowledge that the Terps got more fortunate things last night. I can name 5 w/o even trying. I don't think that takes anything away from the win at all. MD played their butts off. So did Duke. It was basketball as it should be.

The biggest unlucky thing SG didn't even mention IMO. Scheyer's lay-up rolling around, down and out was really unfortunate for Duke. That layup ties it at 71 all (I think) with about 1 min left. It was a great move, good shot, not particularly high difficulty, it just didn't go down. That enabled MD to go down and eventually go up 4 which was what ultimately led to the free throws and putting the game away.

Juxtapose Scheyer's shot with Vasquez's shot and you can see that maybe MD was "living right" at the end of the game. The shot that Vasquez hit was honestly an awful decision, but he made it so good for him. That was probably the hardest shot I've ever seen go down in that big of a situation. The view they showed from the Duke basket made it clear just how insane the angles were on that shot.

Exactly...people are so hung up on the word lucky.

[Mackus]

I live and die for the Terps, but I can acknowledge that the Terps got more fortunate things last night. I can name 5 w/o even trying. I don't think that takes anything away from the win at all. MD played their butts off. So did Duke. It was basketball as it should be.

The biggest unlucky thing SG didn't even mention IMO. Scheyer's lay-up rolling around, down and out was really unfortunate for Duke. That layup ties it at 71 all (I think) with about 1 min left. It was a great move, good shot, not particularly high difficulty, it just didn't go down. That enabled MD to go down and eventually go up 4 which was what ultimately led to the free throws and putting the game away.

Juxtapose Scheyer's shot with Vasquez's shot and you can see that maybe MD was "living right" at the end of the game. The shot that Vasquez hit was honestly an awful decision, but he made it so good for him. That was probably the hardest shot I've ever seen go down in that big of a situation. The view they showed from the Duke basket made it clear just how insane the angles were on that shot.

And for every easy shot that rolled out for Duke, there was one for MD too. We had two in the final few minutes in particular that were pretty close in, good looks that just didn't go (I think one was Jordan and one was Mosley, but not 100% sure).

I just don't like using the word lucky, to me that implies that the main reason we won was not because of how well we played. We got some fortunate breaks for sure, as did Duke, but the reason we won is because we played an outstanding game of basketball, not because we just got lucky or because we let Duke give the game away. You have to take advantage of whatever breaks you get, we did a better job of that than Duke.

[Mackus]

Thanks man. Last night was incredible. I was definitely glad to see that in my section (101) most of the people that have been most of (if not all of) the games the past 2-3 years were up close. 101 was definitely well represented with us upperclassmen.

Last night was just insane. The hype leading up to the game, the atmosphere at the game, and everything involved was incredible.

At to the fact that the game led up to the hype and it was great.

Oh, and the post-game riots were fun too.

Thank you Maryland Basketball for a night I will never forget.

GO TERPS! 1ST PLACE BABY!!!

I'm jealous man, wish I was still in school.

My sister and her boyfriend met Scott Van Pelt at Bentley's after the game. Its very clearly not just a catchphrase for him!

[BaltimoreTerp]

I'm jealous man, wish I was still in school.

My sister and her boyfriend met Scott Van Pelt at Bentley's after the game. Its very clearly not just a catchphrase for him!

You know, watching Sportscenter right after the game one of the anchors made an "I have to go find Van Pelt" joke, and I said to my dad, "I bet he's there."

"Just look for the 6' 5" bald guy with glasses."

[Mackus]

You know, watching Sportscenter right after the game one of the anchors made an "I have to go find Van Pelt" joke, and I said to my dad, "I bet he's there."

"Just look for the 6' 5" bald guy with glasses."

They showed him during the game. He was sitting next to Juan Dixon and I think Juan's brother Phil.

[Mackus]

You do know the Mosley shot ended up being grabbed by Williams and put back in even though Zoubek was right there for the rebound, right? He was really pissed that he just missed it. Kudos to Williams for fighting for it so hard, but it looked like Zoubek just kind of messed up the timing. It would have been unfortunate if that nice shot rolled off the rim into Duke's hands. Instead, we got a big offensive rebound due to both outstanding effort and good timing that led to a put back. That was a huge deal. It put us up 71 to 69.

1:44 69-69 Sean Mosley missed Two Point Jumper.

1:44 69-69 Jordan Williams Offensive Rebound.

1:40 69-71 Jordan Williams made Two Point Layup.

Then that's not the shot I was thinking of, might have been a minute or two earlier. There were two consecutive possessions where we were tied (and got a Duke stop in between) and got easy looks, but couldn't hit either. Could've been up 4 but instead it was a tie game.

[Gofannon]

Was anyone else surprised that Duke never went back to their zone? It really helped get them back in the game at the end of the first half.

[mweb]

Milbourne also had a jumper that was half in before popping out.

[Mackus]

Milbourne also had a jumper that was half in before popping out.

Is that the one after the behind-the-back pass from Vasquez?

Such a pretty pass, disappointing that the shot didn't drop. Milbourne struggled a bit this game, although he also had some big moments, his early three helped us get on that nice early run, and the dunk he had late got the momentum back on our side.

[srock]

I'm jealous man, wish I was still in school.

My sister and her boyfriend met Scott Van Pelt at Bentley's after the game. Its very clearly not just a catchphrase for him!

Totally wish I was there. Graduated in 2004, so I saw many of the legendary games. And missed some of the best because we didn't have the point system back at Cole. Note: the point system came to be because of the legendary debacle of 2001. Sleeping on the concrete for tickets behind Cole only to NOT get into the building because of a riot that broke out when they opened the doors. Nearly trampeled to death. It was awesome. :clap3:

I think the last game at Cole was my favorite experience followed by the snow storm Wake Forest game in '03 or '04. They just let anyone with a student id in the arena because nobody could get there. It was like 70% students while 2 feet of snow fell. Class was cancelled the next day so of course, it was a very intoxicated student body.

At the beginning of last night broadcast, they got a pretty good "You Suck" chant. The students have gotten better at doing it without the band playing the music. BTW, I hate that the band stopped playing Rock'n'Roll part 2. The last time they did it was the last game at Comcast during the first year at Comcast. It was great. The tuba players running all the way to the top of the arena was a epic site.

That's a tradition my dad taught me. Keep it alive students petition to get the band back into it!

Anyone know when it started? Late 70's at the latest. '72 at the earliest, when the song was released.

[Mashed Potatoes]

It is very lucky FOR THE TERPS, that Duke missed key FTs down the stretch(from very good FT shooters) that could have made it a 2 posession game.

That is an absolutely correct statement.

No doubt that making those would have had an impact on the game. What I'm disputing is that not making those was lucky for the terps. It's not a big deal, just challenging your definition and usage of the word. There was a lack of performance consistent with the past in those two situations. Landon Milbourne missed a wide open 12 foot jumper from the baseline that he makes 80% of the time. That wasn't lucky for Duke that was just a lack of performance. The entire game is made up of situations like that and I think it's silly to assign luck or unluck to everyone because it was skill, performance, the crowd, and nerves that dictated the outcome, not something random out of one's control.

Just as if Duke had won the game because Hayes and Vazquez missed a few FTs late, that would have been lucky for Duke.

No it wouldn't, it would have been a lack of performance from Hayes and Vasquez.

People hate that word so bad but it doesn't take away from the truth of the game.

There's no truth here, just two different ways to view a situation. One is more explanatorily powerful than the other because it deals with the real causes of what happened.

And no, that's not why MD won but making those FTs makes it a totally different game.

Sure, so does a different outcome for the thousands of individual plays within the game. Isolating one or two above the others is arbitrary.

Exactly...people are so hung up on the word lucky.

You can see that as a problem with everyone else, or you can take an honest look at yourself for misusing the word thus provoking many responses.