Some observations compiled during the first half of the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s game Saturday against No. 3 North Carolina…
-The video montage with scenes from the Terps’ weight room, which they played on the big screen at Comcast before the Terps came onto the court, was a little questionable.
-Two fouls on Dave Neal in the first 1:33 is not going to help the Terps already massive size disadvantage. What’s especially troubling is one of his fouls was offensive and the other happened when Neal was unnecessarily pressuring the ball on the other end of the court from where the Tar Heels are shooting.
-I don’t know if it’s just me, but Tyler Hansbrough appears to travel pretty much every time he touches the ball. He almost always gets away with it. Dino Gregory has done a good job on Hansbrough after checking in for Neal.
-Good to see James Gist sitting courtside.
-The first 7-plus minutes is Greivis Vasquez’s best offensive performance I can remember. He scored the Terps’ first 16 points, single-handedly keeping the Terps in the game. So of course Gary decides to take him out of the game so his shooting gets a chance to cool off. Greivis didn’t score any more points the rest of the half, and the Terps were outscored 22-14 after he came out.
-Gary Williams nearly gave himself whiplash demonstrating to officials how he thought Hansbrough flopped on a charge called against Eric Hayes. I agree with Williams, and Hansbrough traveled on the next possession. As former Tar Heel Rasheed Wallace might say, “The ball don’t lie.”
-The Terps are hanging in there even though they aren’t shooting especially well. They’re playing much better defense than they did in Chapel Hill a few weeks ago and are still within striking distance. It’s 39-30 Tar Heels at the half.
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