After covering three North Carolina wins over Maryland this season, Iām ready to move on. Iāve seen the movie now, and I know how it ends.
Give Maryland credit for believing they could win. Thatās the arrogance of youth. And I mean that in a positive way.
āWe had a lot of confidence, especially when the game was close,ā said Terrell Stoglin, who scored 30 points and shot better than 50 percent for the second straight day. āWe thought we was going to make another run and take the lead.ā
But Marylandās initial optimism meant that the Terps were awfully disappointed when the 85-69 contest was over.
Saddest of all were the frontcourt guys, of whom Turgeon said: ā(Ashton) Pankey is the only one who played. Alex (Len) played not very well. James (Padgett) out of it all day. We couldnāt get those two guys to run back on defense. Thatās the key to the game.ā
I noted in my updated game story that Padgett wore a hangdog look in the library-quiet locker room.
āI just think I couldnāt make any shots, and it was frustrating,ā Padgett said āI didnāt do what I was supposed to do out there and I think I let my team down. North Carolina did a great job defending rebounding and running the court, so it was pretty tough.ā
Itās funny because I thought Maryland actually got into the lane effectively. The first possession of each half ended with Len missing a layup.
Nick Faust in particular tried ā repeatedly ā to drive to the hoop. Turgeon said Faust may have been a bit overzealous, but at least the freshman is brimming with confidence.
For you Terps fans, Iāll end with a forward-looking thought from Faust.
āWe have a great class coming in, weāre going to be a great team next year.ā
There. Feel better?