Maryland 88, NC State 64

09-10 Basketball95

Ouch. That hurt.

I know it doesn’t sound possible, but it actually looked worse than the score. NC State, now 2-4 in league play, came out flat from the first minute Saturday and never really looked in the game with the Terps. Greivis Vasquez shoulder-shrugged his way to 19 points and five assists and Landon Milbourne, who looked All-ACC much of the day, finished with 18 points and five rebounds.

NC State never got into any sort of rhythm Saturday against the Terps, and Maryland came ready to play. The defensive effort from the Wolfpack was the worst of the season and cannot continue if NC State expects to win anymore games. Maryland got any shot it wanted and, despite having a relatively small lineup, out rebounded the Pack by two.

On a side note, the free throw disparity was absolutely deplorable. Maryland made more free throws (24) than the Wolfpack attempted (16). NC State had only five more personal fouls that Maryland, but it just seemed like every foul on the Pack put the Terps on the line. Thanks Karl Hess.

Here’s the box score. Tracy Smith had the quietest double double in history (18 and 10) and Howell tallied 10 points and seven boards. Other than that it was a pretty pedestrian night for the Pack offensively. The Pack shot just 36 percent from the field and only 62 percent from the charity stripe.

There’s not much more to say really. For some additional commentary and observations you can click here for the ACC Sports Journal’s entry and click here for some discussion on our message boards. This is the type of game you try to forget as quickly as possible. The fact that Carolina comes to town Tuesday should help.

09-10 Basketball

95 Responses to Maryland 88, NC State 64

  1. ncsufan13 01/23/2010 at 7:50 PM #

    What a disgrace. Everyone out there should be embarrassed. They didn’t even look like they were competing.

  2. GoldenChain 01/23/2010 at 7:59 PM #

    I don’t know what the surprise is. We played lights-out against Duke, everyone surpassed their averages from the previous 3 games by a mile, to expect that same output on the road is totally unreasonable. UMd did to us what we did to Duke. Did they even miss a shot in the 2nd half?!
    I think at the end of te season UMd will be a player …and we won’t.

  3. StateofthePack 01/23/2010 at 8:01 PM #

    The worst part is we have to face these guys again. The last couple times we have faced them this season and last we have had no clue… on to Tuesday.

  4. highstick 01/23/2010 at 8:13 PM #

    Where’s this “progress”?

  5. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:14 PM #

    and look, there will be some quick to bail. everyone knew this was a tough matchup, road game or not. in part courtesy of a very emotional win against duke and also b/c of the matchup itself.

    i beg to differ about never being into the game with the terps. although we did come out flat, both teams had a slow start. md, was decisively better than we were yet we managed to be within ten points at the half. there was a noticeable difference b/t tonights club and what we’ve seen for most of the season. it was clear their heads weren’t in it, especially in the second half. i’m pretty sure the duke win was probably the biggest win for these young players and possibly for sid. it appeared sid tried to reconcile the team’s attitude with subs and to’s but to no avail. that said, i thought we would have come out in the second half and been more competitive than we were. to me, our youth on the floor was the real problem tonight.

    greivis vasquez. what a talented player. right? yes he’s talented, but he’s no class act. i kick his punk ass right in the balls if i were playing against him. it was totally uncalled for for him to flounder and flail around on more than one occassion after making atleast two big three pointers. i don’t care for that kid at all, he’s a good player.. but that’s where it stops for me.. hopefully our young players were paying attention when he was basically taunting them on the court.

    after seeing tonight’s game, md could be our toughest matchup this year in the ACC, duh.. the first blowout of the year that may be common sense. their “guard” play was definetly better than ours tonight but i think we’ll do a better job the next go around. but they really took our legs out from under us concerning tracy smith & company. that was really critical to our lack of offense to me tonight. there is much to learn from this game, let’s not write these kids off after a tough loss!!

  6. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:19 PM #

    the progress can be seen from those who were fans last year and have watched more than one game this year to discover the differences. we didn’t have any two wins that could add up to the win the other nite against duke. most expected a bit of a drop off tonight, it happened. that doesn’t erase any the team’s accomplishments this season. we are much better than we were last year. so if you need progress, it is most evident b/t the two seasons. you can also fine tune the visual aid of our progress by going back and look at each game’s stats individually … or you can take my word for it…!!!…

  7. rbwolf 01/23/2010 at 8:20 PM #

    Listen winning on the road this year will be hard. We need to potect our home court that should be our main concern this year. Everyone remember WE ARE A YOUNG TEAM!!!!!!!!!!! But CJ needs help

  8. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:23 PM #

    yeah, i’m clueless on cj. he’s seems to hustle most of the time.. just seems like he doesn’t get it?

    i guess some folks were caught off guard by a loss at md?

  9. rbwolf 01/23/2010 at 8:25 PM #

    I saw CJ this summer and he was lights out. I just don’t get it is it the game plan or has he loss faith in himself ?

  10. Wulfpack 01/23/2010 at 8:27 PM #

    This one was over from the opening tip. Never threatened the Twerps. In the grand scheme of things, it is a loss we would have all expected coming into the season. Many in Wolfpack nation were sky high after the Duke win, and this one ought to temper that enthusiasm. This was a bad loss. Not because we lost, but because we got blown out. I suppose we were due, as the Pack has been in every game all season. That’s a testament to the growth of this team. At the same time, the team picks an awfully odd time for it to happen. You have an opportunity to elevate the image of the program on national television, and you lay a big fat egg.

    At the onset of this current three game stretch (Duke, Maryland, UNC) the majority of Wolfpack fans, including myself, were predicitng we’d go 1-2. Now granted, that was before we tipped off against Duke. But if we can beat the Heels, we will have gone 2-1 in that stretch, and that would be just awesome for this young team.

    I’m not going to make too much out of this one. We will surely be focused and ready to go with the Heels. If that one is a blowout, then I think we’re in for a long year. But a win puts us exactly where we need to be — in the discussion. A minor setback today. Though, we won’t even talk about this one with a win over the Heels.

  11. Class of 2009 01/23/2010 at 8:30 PM #

    “But if we can beat the Heels, we will have gone 2-1 in that stretch, and that would be just awesome for this young team.”

    Oh… my… God… Wulfpack, I 110% agree with you. This loss was inexcusable for what it is. No reason we should have lost like we did. That being said, w.r.t. the impact on the whole season, if we can beat UNC the sum-of-the-parts is pretty positive.

  12. PoppaJohn 01/23/2010 at 8:32 PM #

    Rough game to watch, but these guys are young. Consistency & confidence will come from experience.

    Nice to see Howell continuing to improve. He’s a big part of our future. I think Woods needs to learn how to create his shot.

    UMD scouted us well, executed the game plan well, and we couldn’t do anything about it. None of Sid’s half time adjustments worked.
    In the post game Sid talked about the disappointing lack of hustle.

    There’s still a lot of the league season to play, don’t give up.

  13. Ed89 01/23/2010 at 8:36 PM #

    It will be okay in the morning. No need to jump ship. CJ will still be an average SG that has NO handles. I think Sid regrets the scholly offer, but he needed someone, and CJ really wanted to run with the Pack. I still say that recruiting class put us a YEAR, maybe 2, behind. After getting JJ, Tracy, etc. in 07, we got CJW and Mays in O8 with our only two schollys. Two 3* guys with only 2 schollys. Those needed to be valuable guys, and these two are NOT.

    This game proved that Ryan and Lo will start from DAY ONE. Our backcourt is still not top notch ACC. Yes, they’ve improved, but we just got beat like a drum today. Scott is not a banging type SF, he’s a shooter, and that hurt us on the boards. I was disappointed with the performance of the second half, not so much the first, but I think we let them have it.

    Did I mention that the 08 class is a head-scratcher?

    It will be okay. We can still beat UNX on Tuesday.

  14. Thinkpack17 01/23/2010 at 8:37 PM #

    We didn’t make our perimeter shots. That gave Tracy no help down low. If we don’t make our outside shots on the road we are in some real trouble.

    Stop giving up silly fouls. No one on our squad get’s their money’s worth on fouls. We touch foul on lay-ups and let the guy get the ball up on the rim. We foul 35 feet from the basket, we foul at the end of shot clocks, and I have never seen a team foul more jump shooters than us.

  15. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:38 PM #

    i don’t think there will be much of a carryover from this game to unc-ch… as there was to this one from the duke win. before tip, i thought we play about the same in the first half and actually be down more. we didn’t play well but were in the game. the second half, md’s “experience” pulled away. has anyone else noticed scott wood’s recent foul trouble? it seems like he’s made two or three ticky tacky fouls the last couple of games.. he’s also not been a too much of a factor on offense here of late, which is ok but i’d like to see him continue to be a part of our wins..

  16. Thinkpack17 01/23/2010 at 8:39 PM #

    I don’t know if Ryan starts over a Sr. Javi. Especially not right off the bat.

  17. rbwolf 01/23/2010 at 8:40 PM #

    Ed89 , I belive you are right Sid justed needed some bodies, but CJ looked like a world beater during the summer. Whats up with that.

  18. GoldenChain 01/23/2010 at 8:43 PM #

    Vasquez has eaten us alive every time he’s played us. He must circle the NCSU games when he gets his schedule.
    Otherwise I agree with most of you, we expected to be flat, it was on the road, a team we don’t match well with, etc etc.
    Honestly I’m not even bothered that we ‘laid down’ half way through the second when we knew it wasn’t our night. Why kill yourself or risk injury just to lose by 14 instead of 24?

    I guess the only place I disagree is on the ‘never in the game’. In the second part of the 1st half we came from like 12 down to close it to 4. Then committed not one but TWO boneheaded fouls away from the basket to give them 4 quick points, those BOTH came in the last 12 seconds.

    I also will say that UMd was on fire like we were the other night. UMd could have beaten anyone in the league tonight.

  19. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:44 PM #

    i agree with you thinkpack. i think ryan will be eased in.. which is fine with me. javi is a competitor, that should make ryan better.. what could it be with cj??? he’s not another costner is he?? a few games ago i saw him catch the ball, drop step and swish a three? i was wondering who that kid was???

  20. Ed89 01/23/2010 at 8:48 PM #

    Yes, Scott has been getting some ticky tacks. It’s the new ACC officiating…mug the @#$% out of someone down low, and it’s not called, but graze their arm on a dunk and it’s a foul. Scott needs to learn that.

    You may be close about Ryan vs. Javi. Only because Javi will be a senior, but I think Ryan starts over Javi….or you’ll never get another top notch PG at State. Javi committed 3 or 4 TO’s in the first half. He did hit several threes, but he was not his usual self.

    They frustrated our perimeter players. Still not sure I like 4 guys, including your supposed Power Forward, sitting on the perimeter waiting to feed Tracy. We’ll see, but we need more options at this point.

  21. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:48 PM #

    yes we were on fire the other nite but we also were making layups and manageable ten footers with the occassional three, they were just flat out hitting everything. but yes, they were on fire. what i had a problem with was how we allowed multiple dribble drives from the perimeter “curl” into the paint for a five foot jumpshot make or rebounded for a layup? all night long. the defense was off tonight. i’d like to see us develop a “buckle down” mode when the lid is on the basket.

  22. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:51 PM #

    i credit the md defense with keeping us out so far for most of the game!! they were tough early on and it looked like we somewhat abandoned it.. to early. javi wasn’t himself but made up for a few mistakes with his three’s. i don’t really like him shooting those b/c he gets comfortable and then ends up going cold but forgetting to realize it even after missing five in a row.

  23. Thinkpack17 01/23/2010 at 8:54 PM #

    I saw CJ play in high school, and I watched him play this summer. He just doesn’t do anything REALLY well. He is a subpar defender, he has limited range, he can’t really handle the ball, he’s a guy that has to let the game come to him. But each night you don’t know how he is going to help you, one night he may knock down a few threes. Sometimes he can pump fake and get into the lane a few times. He just can’t figure out his niche, and I think he may be running out of time. If CJ Leslie decides to commit I don’t see a spot for CJ Will in the rotation. We may only have one spot between him and Mays…which sucks for them because they are two character kids.

  24. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 8:55 PM #

    i think most of us have raised the bar a little for this team. now 2-4 and i’m still fairly optimistic. although our record could not support it, but i think we can be playing like a top five ACC team headed into the ACC tourney. that’s not too comforting with talk of another losing acc season, but we are nearing the end of a really tough acc start and aside from tonight played some pretty good ball. win at fsu, near win with clemson and the duke win. i’m ok with that…

  25. Wolfy__79 01/23/2010 at 9:00 PM #

    if you talk about getting rid of scholarships it gets pretty scary. who really wants to bail on kids. but i agree, that would present a problem. one that i like alot who is nowhere near gameready is josh davis. the more i see him play this year, the more i see he needs work.. but i like his enthusiasm. where does painter fit into all this, i thought we might see him in relief of tracy tonight a little but not so much. haven’t been too impressed with im thus far, but he’s highly touted…

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