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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- On this subtly sacrilegious Sunday, what with J.J. Redick missing a free throw and Mike Krzyzewski not getting calls and cursing Gary Williams having his prayers answered, a blaspheming Maryland fan waved a sign that got it right:
Praise Gil-Christ ... Terps gave up losing for lent.
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| ACC tourney MVP John Gilchrist carries state pride on his back after the Terps' win over Duke.(AP) |
The Terps (19-11) have beaten four Top-20 teams since Feb. 28, and swept the powerhouse ACC's top three seeds -- Wake Forest, N.C. State, Duke -- in three days.
Gilchrist had 26 points to cap his Randolph Childress-like ACC Tournament. He had 30 points against N.C. State and 72 points in three games, and his three-point play with 20.3 seconds left forced overtime and fouled out Duke center Shelden Williams.
It was the first ACC championship in 15 tries for Williams, a bookend to his 2002 national championship, and it was all the sweeter for coming on Tobacco Road.
The ACC's perceived bias -- rather, the ACC's bias -- toward state schools had Lefty Driesell promising to celebrate the Terps' 1984 championship in Greensboro by leaving the state with the trophy on his hood. Williams took up the mantra, for years railing against the ACC's propensity for hosting the tournament in North Carolina.
The ACC's Tobacco Road bias continued Sunday -- Duke had more players on the all-tournament team than Maryland -- but not in the crowd, which turned against the Blue Devils. Late in regulation, with Duke coughing up a 12-point lead as its fans urged, "Let's go Duke," the rest of Greensboro Coliseum drowned them out: "Let's go Maryland!"
Behind the Duke bench, a man in a Wake Forest shirt waved a banner that begged of the Terps: Maryland, don't let our loss be in vain.
Somehow it wasn't, a startling development for a Maryland team that on Feb. 23 was 13-10 and teetering on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The result Sunday was startling not just for the what, but for the who.
Four Duke players fouled out -- only four Blue Devils had fouled out all season -- as Krzyzewski continued to find the officials unusually unreceptive. He drew a technical foul Saturday and saw his team get whistled for a season-high 31 fouls Sunday.
While the Blue Devils missed 15 of their 31 free throws, one by 96.2-percent shooter Redick, Maryland made 32-of-44 -- both season highs for a Duke opponent.
Is it too easy to believe that officials have finally tired of Krzyzewski's intimidation tactics, perhaps after his reprehensible behavior March 3 against Georgia Tech?
Well, believe this: Duke wasn't the only team playing without its best players.
Junior forward Mike Grinnon, who sat out 15 of Maryland's previous 17 games and had scored four points all season, hit two free throws with 50.6 seconds left in overtime to push the lead to 87-82. Grinnon played a career-high 10 minutes Sunday because two Terps fouled out (Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley) and another hurt his ankle (D.J. Strawberry).
Freshman guard Mike Jones, No. 9 in Maryland's nine-player rotation, hit one of the game's biggest shots -- a 3-pointer with 31.7 seconds left to pull the Terps within 75-74.
Who were these guys? Duke's Luol Deng said coaches had given the Blue Devils scouting reports on Grinnon and Jones -- but couldn't prove it. Asked what hand Grinnon used to shoot, Deng shook his head.
"I forget."
Speaking of forgettable ... Duke sophomore Daniel Ewing, last season's ACC Tournament MVP, was this season's goat. He had 19 points Sunday but missed all four shots in overtime -- including an open 3-pointer with 28 seconds left for the tie -- and dribbled a ball out of bounds.
As Maryland was sealing the school's third ACC Tournament victory at the foul line, Krzyzewski beckoned Ewing to the bench, saying, "Come here, let's talk."
Ewing fell into his coach's arms, then collapsed onto the bench. As Nick Horvath and Shavlik Randolph shielded their teammate, presumably from television cameras, Ewing bawled into a towel.
Had Maryland fans been able to see Ewing, a devilish thought might have crossed their minds:
Amen.
