Preview: NC State vs Maryland
NC State returns to the RBC Center tonight after traveling to Chapel Hill over the weekend to take on Maryland. The Terps are coming off a 19-point victory over Virginia Monday night and will look to continue the solid play which has them sitting in third place in the ACC.
The Wolfpack, losers of six straight conference games, will be looking to right the ship which has seemed take on more and more water in recent days. A win over Maryland certainly wouldn’t make all those problems go away, but it would be a nice reprieve for the Pack.
As is usually the case when a team takes on Maryland, the Pack will have to try and shut down senior point guard Greivis Vasquez first. That’s been easier said than done for the Pack and most everyone else in the ACC. In the first meeting Jan. 23, Vasquez scored 19 and dished out 5 assists. The last time the Terps visited the RBC Center, March 1, 2009, Vasquez poured in 33 points.
During his time in College Park, Vasquez has always seemed to play well against the Pack. In only six career meetings with the Pack, Vasquez averages 17 points and more than seven assists a contest. His career averages are great (15.5 and 5.6) but he still seems to have NC State’s number.
Check out the Maryland perspective on Testudo Times.
On a side note, there will be a live blog tonight from the RBC Center. This edition will be a little different, however, as SFN has contacted YANCSSB and Backing the Pack to put together a three-headed monster live blog. During the game all three sites will be contributing to the commentary and hosting the same chat on each individual site. We’re going to start the chat a little earlier as well, sometime around 8:30 p.m. If you have pre-game questions or topics you would like to discuss we’ll do that then.
Here’s some of the game notes.
Game Notes
NC State Hosts Maryland
NC State will play host to Maryland Wednesday at 9:00 p.m., in the the first of two ACC contests at the RBC Center this week. Maryland won the first game this season between the two teams in College Park, 88-64, on January 23. The Pack will follow up its meeting with the Terps by hosting No. 23 Wake Forest on Saturday. The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports South with Mike Hogewood & Dan Bonner.
The Series Versus Maryland
Wednesday’s meeting will mark the 146th in a series that dates back to the 1924-25 season. Maryland has a slight lead in the series, 73-72. NC State has won just five of the last 21 meetings, and eight of the last 39 dating back to the 1991-92 campaign. Prior to that streak, the Pack had won nine of the previous 12 matchups. Maryland has won six straight in the series by an average of 14.8 points, and NC State will be looking to defeat the Terrapins for the first time under Sidney Lowe. Maryland won the first matchup this season, 88-64. Last season, Maryland won in Raleigh, 71-60, and again at the ACC Tournament in Atlanta, 74-69. In 2008, Maryland won in College Park by 14 points. The Terps won both contests in 2007 as well, winning by 15 in Raleigh then by 20 in College Park. Prior to that season, the Wolfpack was on a three-game winning streak against the Terrapins, winning the only contest in 2006 (62-58 in Raleigh) and sweeping Maryland during the 2004-05 regular season for the first time since 1988-89. NC State holds a 32-28 lead in games played in Raleigh, but Maryland has won six of nine contests at the RBC Center. The two teams have split the last four games at the RBC Center, with Maryland winning in 2007 and 2009, and the Pack winning in 2005 and 2006.
Earlier This Season Versus Maryland
Maryland scored the final four points of the first half and then the first five points of the second half, to take control of the game and came away with a 88-64 win over NC State in College Park on January 23. Maryland would dominate the second half of play, outscoring the Pack 47-31, thanks to shooting 66.7 percent (16-24) from the floor compared to the Pack hitting just 27.8 percent (10-36). Maryland was the first opponent to shoot over 50.0 percent against the Pack this season, as the Terps were 29-of-54 (.537) from the floor. Tracy Smith recorded a double-double leading NC State with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Javier Gonzalez hit three first-half three pointers and finished with 13 points.
61 Responses to “Preview: NC State vs Maryland”
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“During his time in College Park, Vasquez has always seemed to play well against the Pack.”
understatement of the millenia
oh yeah. awesome that all 3 of yall are doing the same live blog. it is tough to decide which live blog to attend… this succinctly answers that question.
go pack
Liveblog ménage à trois, who’s in the middle?
…not that I’ll be attending. I can handle the fourth week of double-digit losses without group therapy thankyouverymuch.
should be a spicy conversation with the three headed monster. i hell-hate me some vasquez. hopefully we can get our shi# together and get a win.
I’d be perfectly satisfied with a 20 point loss if someone knocks the living crap out of Vazquez.
“During his time in College Park, Vasquez has always seemed to play well against the Pack.”
Who hasn’t?
Saw this comment on another blog and thought it was worth repeating:
I would rather put a cigarette out on my eyeball than watch Vasquez do that obnoxious little shimmy of his again. I hope he throws out his back the next time he does it, and can’t play for a month.
Amen, brother. Amen. Vasquez is my most despised player since Chris Paul.
I might be showing up tonight as well. I will tweet my way into the 3 headed monster blogger if I do.
We are actually in a great position to win this game. This is Maryland’s 3rd game in 5 days. They SHOULD be a little tired. (Keep in mind, w/ NC State’s conditioning in a similar situation, we’d be ALOT tired.)
I think we’ve got a decent shot here. If UMd walks the dog on us, it will tell us all we need to know about our program.
I’m watching my DVR’d copy of LOST. I’ve seen THIS movie before.
What I would like to see happen, is that the team not lose hope down by 7 with 5 minutes left. Lack of confidence has become contagious.
Anybody in NYC up for watching this game and commisserating? I am in town for biz staying at 48th/Broadway.
“What I would like to see happen, is that the team not lose hope down by 7 with 5 minutes left. Lack of confidence has become contagious.”
You know what a sign of a really bad team is? It’s when you find yourself saying…”You know, if we could have just hit that jumper to cut the lead to 8 w/ like 10 minutes left, the game might have been different.”
Choppack,
Agree with both your posts. I think we can take them tonight though. I would try a few junk d’s on Vasquez and Hayes. We’ve got to take Vasquez out of the game. Maybe we can catch him a little tired.
ed89 – I agree. Normally, I’d say that you don’t have to “junk” against a spot up shooter like Hayes – all you have to do is bother defending him. However, if you are going to put employe something specifically for Vasquez, you can’t let Hayes roam free….Which I think he’d do in a box and 1 or a 1-3 and a chase.
I guess I will watch unless ice dancing is on the Olympics tonight.
This, I predict, will be an epic ass kicking.
The Pack needs to draw straws to determine who bitch-slaps Vasquez into next week at the first sign of disrespect/taunting.
“I think we’ve got a decent shot here. If UMd walks the dog on us, it will tell us all we need to know about our program.”
I think we already know all we need to know about our program.
Try as I might, I can’t come up with one compelling reason to watch this game. Not a single one.
I would love to see a nice flagrant foul, not a career ending one but one that says”get that s#%& outta here” and makes him hesitate when he even catches a pass.
Well Nate Irving did say he couldn’t wait to hit someone…
This will most likely be another exercise in futility for State. The excitement surrounding this game has reached the level of whale poop.
I’m watching the US kick butt in the curling tonight. (sweep butt?)
“Wait a minute…whose that from the stands? Is that…? OMG! Wolfpack Linebacker Nate Irving just speared Grevis Vasquez into next WEEK!”
“I don’t know if he’s going to be shimmying anymore tonight Mike…”
I’m headed down to Buies Creek to watch the Campbell Camels continue their march to the conference Championship! Some good ball being played in Buies Creek this year.
#4 in the nation in steals, 12 in the nation in turnover margin, and a point guard that ranks 14th in the nation in assist.
A win tonight and Friday night should seal the deal on the regular season championship. Ya’ll should head down on Friday night if you don’t have anything else to do. It’s a great, geat atmosphere down there right now. Friday is a big game and the place should be rockin, but going to be tough one as it is their 4th game in 8 days. Some of you could use a break from STATE!!!!!
Campbell’s been lifting my load this year as a sad pack fan. It’s nice as a fan right now to have a degree from two schools and two teams to pull for.
one post said we should try some junk defense,hell,that is the only defense we play,real junk.