Vasquez Helps Terps Improve to 8-0

Freshman Delivers Like 'John Havlicek': Maryland 72, Illinois 66

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov. 28 -- Greivis Vasquez moved an entire continent away to play basketball, so the freshman guard from Venezuela was not exactly sure what Maryland Coach Gary Williams meant when Vasquez asked what his role on the team would be this season.

"You're going to be our John Havlicek," the coach said, referring to the Boston Celtics' Hall of Famer, one of the best sixth men in basketball history.

"Who's John Havlicek?" Vasquez asked.

But Tuesday night, it seemed that Vasquez took the comparison to heart. With the No. 23 Terrapins facing a hostile crowd and trailing late to previously unbeaten Illinois, Vasquez came off the bench to score 15 of his 17 points in the second half to lead Maryland to a 72-66 victory in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Vasquez's biggest play came with less than 90 seconds left and with the Terrapins hanging on to a tenuous 63-60 lead. The Fighting Illini tried to throw an inbounds pass, and Vasquez -- in a virtual replay of Havlicek's finest moment -- stole the ball.

A stunned sold-out crowd of 16,618 watched Vasquez convert the turnover into a quick layup that was enough to help Maryland become the first nonconference team to win a game at Assembly Hall since 1998.

"That play right there won it for us," Maryland forward James Gist said. "Greivis put on a show down the stretch. That's what he's capable of doing. That's what teams aren't aware of. It was his turn tonight."

With injured senior center Ekene Ibekwe watching from the sideline, Vasquez rescued Maryland after it let Illinois chip away at a 15-point first-half lead, eventually turning it into a five-point Terrapins deficit. Vasquez saved his best work for the stretch run, pouring in 12 points in the last nine minutes.

"We might as well say we start six guys because he plays as much as anybody else," said Williams, who has used Vasquez off the bench all season. "It's really good to have somebody like that come into the game because he's very excitable. His personality is such that if we're a little flat, he gets us going just flying around."

The Terrapins silenced a boisterous sellout crowd at Assembly Hall by opening the game with a 20-6 run during which Maryland executed its transition offense and challenged shots on defense.

Even without Ibekwe, who missed the game with a left ankle sprain, the Terrapins controlled the lane. Center Bambale Osby, making his first career start, provided a spark on both ends.

"We were tough enough to handle the crowd early," Williams said.

But midway through the first half, Maryland watched its double-digit advantage disintegrate. The funk spilled over into the second half. Vasquez's floater through the lane more than three minutes into the second half was Maryland's first field goal in more than eight minutes of play.

As Maryland turned the ball over three times in the first three minutes, the Illini finished their comeback. Illinois forward Shaun Pruitt, who was limited to just three points in the first half, scored his team's first five points. He tied the game at the 17:05 mark with a power move against center Will Bowers, who checked in just three minutes into the half because Osby had picked up his third foul.

Pruitt's basket ignited the orange-clad crowd.

Illinois took a 42-40 lead with 12:12 left in the game, when sophomore guard Calvin Brock made a three-pointer to push the Illini ahead for the first time since opening the game with a layup. Pruitt had just thrown down a dunk with 8:55 left in the game to give the Illini a 48-43 edge, their biggest lead of the night, when Williams called a timeout. He implored his suddenly sluggish team to pick up the pace. Vasquez responded.

"I just came out and started playing even harder," said Vasquez, who scored Maryland's next eight points in less than two minutes.

Mike Jones, who led Maryland with 19 points, followed by knocking down his third three-pointer of the game with 4:49 left to give Maryland the lead for good.

Vasquez helped ice the game with a no-look pass that led to an easy basket for Osby and a pair of free throws with 2:15 left.

"I don't feel like a hero," he said. "I'm just helping my team to win."