Chris McCray got hit in the mouth by J.J. Redick. It was early in the second half last night, and the Maryland junior was in the deadeye Duke guard's breathing space. Redick finally brought his elbows up.
They traded words, eventually worked it out and went on competing in one of college basketball's most scintillating rivalries.
John Gilchrist and Chris McCray hug at the end of Maryland's scintillating win.
(John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)
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| _____ Tournament Outlook _____
A look at the local Division I colleges and their chances of making the NCAA tournament.
_____ Maryland_____
• Record: 16-10
• RPI: 39
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Duke, vs. Georgia Tech, vs. Duke
• Key Losses: vs. GW, vs. North Carolina State, at Miami, vs. Clemson
• Prognosis: Given the respect of the ACC and their RPI of 39, the Terps are likely in by winning at least two more games.
_____ Georgetown_____
• Record: 16-9
• RPI: 70
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Pittsburgh, at Villanova, vs. Notre Dame
• Key Losses: vs. Oral Roberts, vs. Temple, at St. John's
• Key Remaining Games: at Connecticut (March 2)
• Prognosis: The Hoyas are in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament unless they can beat Connecticut on the road and have a decent showing in the Big East tournament.
_____ George Washington_____
• Record: 18-7
• RPI: 78
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. Maryland, vs. Michigan State
• Key Losses: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Xavier, at Richmond
• Prognosis: Losing to Saint Joseph's at home puts a major dent in the Colonials' tournament hopes. They have an outside shot of getting an at-large bid if they advance to the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
_____ Virginia Tech_____
• Record: 14-12
• RPI: 122
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. North Carolina State, at Georgia Tech, vs. Duke, vs. Miami
• Key Losses: at VMI, at St. John's, vs. Western Michigan
• Key Remaining Games: vs. Maryland
• Prognosis: The loss to Clemson at the buzzer severely damages the Hokies' tournament dreams. They likely need to beat Maryland and advance deep into the ACC tournament to have a chance.
American, George Mason, Howard, Navy and Virginia all need to win their conference tournaments to make the tournament.
**RPI taken from http://kenpom.com/rpi.php
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Did you stay up for this impossibly wild game?
The Terps and the Blue Devils went to overtime at Comcast Center in an ACC heirloom, and Gary Williams's club came away with a 99-92 victory and its first season sweep of Duke and Mike Krzyzewski since 1994-95.
"At the end of that game, I've never heard it louder," Williams said of his booming home court. Even Krzyzewski talked about the atmosphere, how a see of red worked against his players. At the buzzer, no one could hear the person next to them.
It was as complete a performance in a big game as anyone around Maryland could remember. Six of Williams's players scored in double figures. As good as Redick, Daniel Ewing and Shelden Williams were for Duke -- they combined for 67 points -- the best player on the floor for most of the night was John Gilchrist.
He was brilliant in the first half, and he converted a three-point play with 1 minute 15 seconds left -- his first basket of the second half. Nineteen points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in 41 minutes; Gilchrist's performance embodied his team's resilience.
Indeed, from a maddening season emerged a defining victory.
Maryland came back from nine points down on the No. 7 team in the country in the second half. McCray and Mike Jones grabbed Redick all evening. Clutched him. Bumped him. Redick was so frustrated in the final couple of minutes of regulation he launched an air ball. And when it was over at this cacophonous arena, the Terrapins proved they have the mettle to go as far as they want in March.
It's strange. For most of the last couple of months, the Terps did not look of this caliber. Gilchrist was inconsistent, their big men came and went and they just did not seem a nasty enough team on the road to compete against a top-10 team.
But there they were last night, putting away the Blue Devils for the second time in a little more than two weeks.
They never gave ground, even when they were down by nine. They traded three-point bombs, 'bows and all any ACC fan could want until the pulsating finish. They kept coming in waves. If it wasn't Ekene Ibekwe, Travis Garrison and Jones were scoring underneath in the final minutes.
You hate to get carried away after a monstrous win on national television. But maybe Maryland season's has finally taken an abrupt turn toward the NCAA tournament.
The chances of the Terps taking the ACC tournament at MCI Center next month seems homerish and provincial. But at the least, you could see them going a couple rounds now.
With his second victory over Duke this season, Williams is a good bet to take the Terps to the tourney for the 12th straight year.
Williams was at his best last night. His right index finger was forever throttling the air. He was outwitting another stressed-out man, Krzyzewski, whom he beat on Coach K's home floor last month to resuscitate Maryland's season. Every possession was a referendum on the program. Every free throw attempt a painful ordeal. The pressure was palpable.
Much was made of the Maryland fans' lack of tact a year ago against Duke. Some of the chants were more incendiary. Williams made sure the university acquitted itself well, but he also made a point afterward to say that the Terps face some of the worst verbal abuse in the nation every time they travel.
He also spoke of his team's resolve, how Maryland never quit on what appeared a dismal season a while back, saying, "That's not us."
"Nobody quits," Williams added.
His voice rose as he kept speaking, and you got the sense that, in a blink, this could go from one of Williams's most trying seasons to one of his most gratifying. Gilchrist finally understands the balance between getting his own offense and making his teammates better. Nik Caner-Medley still takes some ill-advised shots, but he goes after every miss. Players who just weren't producing earlier -- Jones, Garrison, Ibekwe -- are all of a sudden nails on defense, hitting the offensive boards and moving without the ball.
It all added up to this satisfying win before 17,950, many of whom shuttled out of the Comcast Center talking about one of the great games they had ever seen.
Gilchrist and Caner-Medley missed shots in regulation that would have won it before Maryland simply outplayed by-then-undermanned Duke in overtime. Together, the Terrapins pulled off the greatest feat of their up-and-down season.
At the end, the building was shaking, Maryland's players were sprinting toward the tunnel, slapping hands with fans as Duke was denied any vindication after what happened at Cameron Indoor Stadium last month.
"When I first got here and I would go out to eat, people would come up to me and say, 'Good luck, have a great season and . . . Please beat Duke,' " Caner-Medley said afterward, smiling in the locker room. "'Please beat Duke.'"
