The opening tip Saturday at Comcast Center resembled a rugby scrum — the ball squirting out of a wild scramble of players. Maryland senior Dave Neal had time to make an easy pickup, but dove to the floor instead.
With that, the tone was set for the Terrapins’ high-intensity, low-artistry ACC opener with Georgia Tech.
But playing ugly suits Maryland. Rebounding from Wednesday’s shocking upset to Morgan State, the Terrapins staged an inspired second-half rally led by guards Eric Hayes, Greivis Vasquez, and Adrian Bowie to defeat Tech, 68-61.
In storming back from a 10-point deficit, Maryland (12-3, 1-0) out-scored Tech 28-11 over the final 9 minutes, 17 seconds, to the delight of 17, 569 raucous fans.
“So here we go in the ACC,” said Maryland coach Gary Williams. “That’s the greatest. If you don’t like that as a player or as a coach, there’s something wrong with you.”
Maryland hit only 31 percent from the floor and 19 percent from 3-point range and was outrebounded by the taller Yellow Jackets, 49-39, but survived with suffocating, end-to-end defensive pressure, forcing 28 turnovers.
“We were just encouraging each other, ‘Keep defending,’” said Hayes. “Once we started defending and making shots, the crowd got into the game. The home court was great tonight.”
Tech took its biggest lead, 50-40, on a jumper by Lewis Clinch (15 points) with 10 minutes left. But Vasquez (16 points, 6 assists) touched off the rally with a spinning 3-point play, then fed Hayes (17 points) for back-to-back 3-pointers and Neal (8 points) for another. Bowie (11 points, 6 rebounds) took over down the stretch, scoring six points in the final 80 seconds.
Vasquez reflected the game’s intensity when he screamed to the crowd in between hitting the clinching free throws with 17 seconds left. He was angered by fans, who had voiced their disapproval as the Terps missed their first 13 attempts from beyond the arc.
“I didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. Nobody did. But they hit on me,” Vasquez said. “We’re 12-3. We were 9-5 at this time last year. What the hell are they thinking? They don’t want to believe in us, they can just get the hell out. We don’t need them here.”
