Loss to Va. Tech tough to stomach

Maryland's James Gist (right) battles Virginia Tech's Deron Washington (13) for a rebound. Gist finished with only seven points in Maryland's 69-65 loss to the Hokies. (Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr. / February 20, 2008)

It was a night of comebacks. From the unwelcomed to the improbable. Those that turned your stomach and those that made you turn your head.

The first comeback came late in the first half of Maryland's disappointing 69-65 loss to Virginia Tech last night. Following a free-throw attempt, players retreated to their respective benches after one Hokies' dinner refused to stay down, making an unexpected appearance on the court. The game was stopped and fans immediately began chanting, "That's dis-gust-ing!" On the other end of the arena, a group of students quickly flipped around their popular "Fear the Fro" sign and hastily scribbled on the back, "Fear the mop," as workers took nearly 10 minutes cleaning the court.

For the Terps, unfortunately, it was merely foreshadowing a final 20 minutes that would challenge the strongest of stomachs. Virginia Tech's second-half comeback gave the Hokies a second win over Maryland this year. The Terps blew a 14-point lead. Their senior leader, James Gist, finished with just seven points. They were 6-of-14 from the free-throw line, gave up 18 turnovers and despite totaling 38 minutes, the Terps' bench failed to contribute a single point.

If fans weren't so stunned when the final buzzer sounded, that would've been a much more appropriate time to break out the chant about disgust. Were the mops still around? Because if the Terps aren't careful, they're are at risk of spilling their chances for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.

"It's unbelievable," said sophomore Greivis Vasquez. "Who can believe this? Can you guys believe this?"

Vazquez clearly couldn't. The loss, he says, was worse than any other he'd suffered since setting foot on campus 1 1/2 years ago. Worse than American or Ohio. Worse than Butler in last year's NCAA tournament or Miami in the ACC tournament.

Losing to Virgina Tech last night, Vasquez said, felt like he'd lost a family member. "It hurts so much," he said.

You've got to appreciate his emotion -- the guy feels every tick of the game clock like a pot boiling over -- but Vasquez either overstated the disappointment from last night's game or, lost in his grief, he stumbled upon some form of enlightenment. He seems acutely aware of how thin the line is between a team that plays in the NCAA tournament and one that follows it on TV -- and the Terps happen to be walking that line like a tightrope right now.

What Vasquez and every Terps fan learned last night is that to survive the final two weeks of the regular season -- to ultimately earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament field -- the margin of error isn't just thin; it's nearly nonexistent. This team is not deep enough to overcome its mistakes.

If one player has a night off, the entire team is at risk of having a night off. A player like Gist cannot disappear in big games. The guy in charge of mopping the sickness off the Comcast Center court shouldn't go home at night feeling more accomplished than Gist.

Now is the time of year that the best teams play their best basketball. After scoring a career-high 30 points earlier this month against N.C. State, Gist has managed only three field goals in each of the past three games. Hopefully he spends some time studying the box score from last night and realizes that if he doesn't score, there's not exactly a Plan B, C or D about to pop off that bench.

Asked about his team's bench play, head coach Gary Williams said, "What did you see? No points off our bench." There was no point in even trying to dress it up. Williams is surely more frustrated than anyone. Can you imagine a team like this making a strong run without having a single reserve who can score?

"Our bench has got to step up," Vasquez said. "You know, they've got to step up. ... "I give you guys reason to talk about me if I turn the ball over, but if you don't have anybody to help you, how can you score? That should tell you something."

That fire you see from Vasquez on the court increasingly reveals itself in the locker room. Gist, the captain, didn't talk to reporters following last night's loss. It was Vasquez who was left to answer for the team, and it was Vasquez who took it upon himself to send a message to his teammates.

"If we play our best, we can win these four games. But we got to play our best," he said. "It's not just me. It's not just James. It's not just Eric (Hayes)."

For the Terps, the NCAA tournament doesn't feel as secure as it did just a couple of days earlier, but it's still well within reach. Maryland could ultimately benefit from the muddle in the middle of the ACC standings. That's why Williams was able to acknowledge last night's loss was "very disappointing," but barely pause before noting, "at the same time, we're still in pretty good shape."

With three of their final four games on the road, the Terps could find themselves holding their breath on Selection Sunday, but not if they plan on repeating last night's performance.

Vasquez likened this final stretch of games to a street fight. "It's going to be like living in a tough neighborhood and someone wants to kill you every night and every morning when you walk by that neighborhood," he said, being careful not to understate anything.

No doubt Vasquez will take that approach into each of the remaining games. But that alone isn't enough. There's an entire roster that needs to adopt the same sense of urgency.

rick.maese@baltsun.com

Related topic galleries: Court Administration, NCAA Tournament, Gary Williams, Comcast Corp., Maryland Terrapins, Virginia Tech

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