As I wrote in today's column, which you can read here, the Maryland-Michigan State finish yesterday was one for the ages.
Some final thoughts on Maryland's 85-83 loss to the Spartans, which ended a terrific 24-9 season:
* CBS did an excellant job of capturing the essence of the game in the final frantic seconds. From the shots of Korie Lucious's buzzer-beater at the top of the key -- in slow-mo, he seemed to hang in the air forever, like the moon -- to the shots of the Spartan reserves exploding off the bench to mob Lucious, to the shot of Maryland's Jordan Williams slumped on the court, looking stricken, every image worked perfectly to explain the drama of those moments.
* Two things in particular killed Maryland: the Terps were outrebounded 42-24. At times, it seemed like the sublime freshman, Jordan Williams, was the only Terp capable of boxing anyone out and crashing the boards.
The other thing that killed the Terps was the Spartans' deadly shooting. "Their shooting surprised us in the first half," Gary Williams admitted. Actually, I think the Terps were shocked by how well Michigan State shot the ball, particularly from beyond the 3-point line, where they were 10-for-18 (.556.)
*You never know how you're going to get injured in sports; sometimes it occurs in the most innocuous-seeming ways.
Take the Spartans star point guard, Kalin Lucas, in yesterday's game. He made a great move at the top of the key near the end of the first half, drove hard to his right and then soared and hit a floater.
He landed on his feet just fine. But then, as he pushed off to head downcourt, he apparently suffered a serious Achilles tendon injury.
Now it looks like he's done for the rest of the tournament. With injuries, you just never know.
Wonderful game, wonderful season for the Terps. Too bad it had to end so soon.