No one was happier about freshman guard Adrian Bowie?s big game against Wake Forest than a player he helped replace ? Eric Hayes.
The Terrapins injured sophomore guard turned cheerleader was ecstatic to see Bowie play one of his biggest games of the season in a 71-64 win over the Demon Deacons in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Tuesday.
“I was standing up. I wasn?t jumping, but I was standing because heplayed great tonight,” Hayes, who?s missed the past three games with a sprained ankle, said. “He was out there hustling, getting loose balls, scoring, we needed it all tonight. We need somebody to step up like that.”
Bowie came off the bench to score 10 points with eight rebounds and three steals, playing through his own injury ? three stitches under his left eye caused by an unintentional elbow from guard Greivis Vasquez in practice.
But the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder attributed the improvement on his 3.8 points per game average simply to gaining the confidence of Coach Gary Williams.
“Playing time,” Bowie said. “Being on the court always helps you out.”
Bowie, however, has plenty of familiarity with Maryland (11-7, 1-2 ACC). The Greenbelt native grew up idolizing the team?s players, severing as a ball boy from ages 7 to 11. Even as a highly recruited player from Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Bowie never stopped envisioning himself at College Park.
“I?ve been around here for so long, I always wanted my own locker. I always wanted to play for Coach Williams,” Bowie said. “Ever since I was little I?ve been going to basketballcamps, being a ball boy. It was a dream of mine, and it came true.”
But the best may be yet to come.
“He just gives a little bit more energy out there right now,” Williams said.
“We?re still working on some things with Adrian, but I think he?s got a chance. He?s proven that he?s got a chance to be a very good player in our program as time goes by.”
Meantime, he?ll provide valuable minutes for a backcourt that suddenly has some depth.
“I know he wasn?t getting the minutes before I got hurt, but he?s proven he can play when he gets minutes and give Greivis and I a rest out there,” Hayes said. “He?s proven he can play in the ACC.”
MARYLAND (11-7 overall, 1-2 ACC) VS. No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA (18-0, 3-0 ACC)
» Tipoff: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
» Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
» TV: ABC
» Radio: 105.7 FM/1300 AM
