Canes

'Canes have fun at Terps' expense

A week from now, the coach with the sweat-soaked shirt standing dejectedly in the Maryland locker room will be in the NCAA Tournament looking for his second championship ring.

By DAVID MURPHY
Published March 9, 2007

TAMPA - A week from now, the coach with the sweat-soaked shirt standing dejectedly in the Maryland locker room will be in the NCAA Tournament looking for his second championship ring.

The senior forward with the famous dad will be attempting to extend his career.

And the large pro-Maryland crowd that trekked south for this weekend's festivities will be making reservations for a city such as Columbus, Buffalo or Lexington.

But for a few hours on Thursday, the spotlight was all Miami's.

"We never gave up," guard Jack McClinton said of the 12th-seeded Hurricanes' 67-62 upset of Maryland. "We knew that we have had a bad season, but we knew we had a tournament to play in."

For most of the game, a patchwork team from a football school bullied the ACC's hottest squad.

Missing four players because of injury or suspension, Miami led for the final 35 minutes 37-24 at halftime then held on.

Maryland, which had won seven in a row, shot 38.6 percent from the field and made just 15 of 26 free throws. But as Terps coach Gary Williams said, "Sometimes, you have to give credit to other teams for what they do."

And what Miami did was use the same formula, defense and rebounding, as in a 63-58 upset of Maryland on Jan. 10.

The Hurricanes grabbed 19 rebounds and outscored the Terps 23-8 on second-chance points. More important, they refused to wither as their heavily favored opponent cut their lead to three (2:38 remaining), two (59 seconds) and one (23 seconds).

"We just had to stay together and play as a family and play strong," said guard Brian Asbury, who made 8 of 9 free throws, two with three seconds left.

Of course, a week from now, there is a good chance Asbury will be watching Maryland on television. Miami, which faces No. 4 seed Boston College at 2 p.m. today, must win the tournament to get an NCAA berth. And even while searching for the words to explain the loss, Terps forward D.J. Strawberry said the team would be okay.

Still, as security cleared the arena, it was the Hurricanes preparing for another game and the Terrapins preparing for the early trip home.

"I really truly believe there's going to be some good things happening to this ballclub," Miami coach Frank Haith said, "whether it be this year or next year because of all the things we had to go through."

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 01:14:25]