So here we are.....the first game of the tourney. It's the #4 seeded Maryland Terrapins up against the Davidson Wildcats. Here's a breakdown of the teams, and join Extrapolater after the jump for the Live-Blog.

Also, you can read my Deadspin Preview here if you please. (P.S.- If Maryland happens to lose....let's keep the jokes to a minimum.)

Maryland #4 Midwest Region:

Conference Atlantic Coast
Location College Park, MD
Coach Gary Williams (since 1989)
Arena Comcast Center
Record 24-8 (10-6)
RPI 16
NCAA Appearances 21
NCAA Record 35-20 (.636)
Last Bid 2004
Last Win 2004
Founded 1856

Davidson #13 Midwest Region:

Conference Southern
Location Davidson, NC
Coach Bob McKillop (since 1989)
Arena Belk Arena
Record 28-4 (17-1)
RPI 50
NCAA Apearances 8
NCAA Record 5-9 (.357)
Last Bid 2006
Last Win 1969
Founded 1837


OK, everybody, Tits McGee is on vacation. I'm just Extrapolatin' today. Honestly, the character from the movie I most resemble physically is the crazy biker played by Jack Black. But there's no way I can punt Baxter, so we'll just let that lie.

We know the bloodlines in this game. D.J. Strawberry, son of Darryl. Stephen Curry, son of Dell. And those just happen to be the best scorers for Maryland and Davidson, respectively. The fact that Stephen looks like Tevin Campbell shouldn't worry you - the kid's an assassin.

The anchor man quote that best describes Davidson? "I'm gonna shoot you with a BB gun when you're not looking. Yep, back of the head".

For Maryland? "You dirtbags have been in third place for five years!" "Oh yeah, well you're about to be in Dead Place!"

I'm vibrating like a supercolliding superconductor over here. Let's get this game going!

The best thing about being a sub-culture "journalist"? Beer. Casual dress. This is the way to go.

Is this not the most excruciating wait? I get to watch Price Is Right and then local news. Yeesh.

Is this song by Daughtry? Man, that guy is en fuego. Always better to get kicked off American Idol than to win.

Clark Kellogg says the kids are antsy. That's nothing on how a live-blogger feels. Our whole season comes down to this.

If I could attend any of today's games in person, it would probably be the CAA games. I think both ODU and VCU have a chance to advance against slumping teams.

By the way, AA, if Maryland loses, you'll get no jokes from me. I feel that would anger the basketball gods, who have handed my Jayhawks a couple of embarassing whippin's the past two years.

I had forgotten what it's like to watch commercials, because I usually use the DVR these days and FF through them. It sucks. Especially because they've doubled up on them for the big event.

My announcers are: Kevin Harlan and Bob Wenzel. Sweet.

Maryland takes the tip, and Ebekwe misses a putback.

McKillop looks kind of Clint Eastwoodish over there.

19:11 left - Ebekwe gets it done on this posession, Curry misses his first attempt on the other end, but Boris from France gets the putback.

Davidson's Sander landed hard and walks off the court under his own power.

Richards hits a three for Davidson and it's 5-2 in the Wildcats' favor.

BD asked if Clark Kellogg gets paid for his insight - yes, very well, but he has to wear a suit to work. Advantage-me.

17:06 Maryland has put in two to make it 5-4.

Sander is back in after his fall. Richards takes another long shot that almost goes down. Davidson is getting very good position for offensive rebounds, and draw a foul on the Terps.

Curry makes a three to make it 8-4, then Osby gets two for Maryland. A little back and forth, and now DJ gets two to tie it up at eight!

If we keep up this pace, I might break a nail.

OK, now I'm happy to have commercials. I broke a sweat during the early action.

15:21 left - Maryland 11, Davidson 8, and now Vasquez puts in a two and Maryland is starting to build a lead at 13.

Davidson blocks Bowers they're giving the rejection to Lovedale.

General Greivis picks up a foul.

Strawberry fouls Curry and shouts "my dad could beat up your dad!"

Curry takes three shots on the foul and gets the score to 13-11 for Maryland.

Maryland pushes their score to 15, but the Canadian for Davidson hits a three (sense a patter developing?) and gets the Wildcats back within one.

Ebekwe slams it home!!!!!

Davidson picks off an inside pass and it goes the other way.

Archambault ties the game with ANOTHER Davidson trey.

Harlan seems subdued so far. I wonder if he's OK? Maybe he's saving some gas for the second half.

Jones (WHO?) misses a challenged shot and it goes the other way. Richards hits an inside shot and gets nailed by Vazquez, so when we come back from break, it'll be a free throw.

I appreciate Big Kat stopping by and commenting. I enjoyed your work as a 1B for the Rockies.

Live-blogging is actually harder than my day job. But way more fun. So the reward level is pretty high.

11:46 left Davidson is up 19-17 with a free throw coming.

Richards hits it 20-17.

Hayes rattles one in, but then Curry fires a pass into Lovedale. Nice recognition from a guy who's usually looking to score.

Terps miss a couple of long ones - time to go inside!

Straw, Jr. scores and gets the foul as he overpowers wee Curry.

10:11 - Jones gets a beautiful pass inside and Gist scores it!

Davidson charges right back down the floor and we're at 23-22 Maryland. Damn! This is a quick game!

Nice nice shot by Gist. He's in great position the past couple of posessions.

Barr for Davidson nails a three.

It's 27-25 for Maryland after Strawberry goes inside again.

Curry drains one! 28-27 Davidson! What a pace!

If Maryland figures out how to defend the perimeter, there are going to be problems, however.

Hayes misses a three, but Bower gets the carom.

TO at 7:38 left.

I usually update time and score more than this, but this is like watching an NBA game from the 80's! The score might look like that too, if it keeps up.

Kevin Bacon in a Hanes commercial with MJ. Is he actively trying to trim the game down to "Four degrees of Kevin Bacon"?

At halftime, I'll check out the comments - this game is going waaaay too fast for me to peep them right now.

By the way, I'm really liking my announcing team so far. Not getting in the way of the action, and getting the names right, which is probably more than you can say for me.

No surprise, Maryland winning in the paint, Davison outside the arc. While I speak, it goes to 30-27 for Davidson.

Curry gets a steal and pushes it ahead and - I think it's Meno draws a foul and scores. Can the kids keep this up in the second half? That's what halftime adjustments are all about. I don't think Davidson can possibly figure out how to stop the inside scoring of Maryland unless they just pack the middle and challenge the passes - they don't have the athletes to change the dynamic much. So it's up to Gary Williams to solve the outside shooting of the Wildcats.

twoeightnine said...
Curry is damn good.

Indeed. And he was practically begging Virginia Tech to sign him. Bet they feel stupid right about now.

I'm getting a look at the other games, so I'll have to wait for more from my game.

OK, back in Buffalo (byfar the best game right now) and Davidson is at 35.... 30 after Jones hits a wide open three.

5:30 left

Richards barely misses yet another three. Jones hits his and oh, he gets called "their best stroker from deep" The Ladies... are happy to hear it.

Terps get inside to tie it at 35 on a goaltend.

Gary's looking fairly composed so far.

Is Clark Kellogg finishing his first beer right now? Maybe. It's a distinct possibility. But he has to hide his under the anchor table.

Maryland inside again to go up two. Ebekwe gets a rejection. See, I told you Davidson can't go inside!

That was a sweet block - it was hard, but still to his own man instead of a mile away.

These runs are incredible. To quote Harlan "I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!"

3:30 left and Curry pulls up and drops it - he has 13 points right now. It's 38-37 for Davidson, but then Maryland scores, and Curry comes back with another three!!

Good lord, why is my doorbell ringing?
Fuckem.

Tied at 41... I can barely keep up. Thank god for typing class in Jr. High. My typing teacher cut the tip of her finger off with one of those paper cutters. That was pretty gross. Ruined her typing career.

Curry's on the ground, but he gets right back up. He has 16.

2:18 left and we're tied. 41-all.

I may need to get a Deron Washington headband if this game doesn't slow down in the second half.

We're back and Curry is shooting foul shots. He's up to 18 in this game.

Brown hits a three, and Wenzel feels they needed that. Yep.

44-43 Maryland.

Curry traveled. I told you he was no good.

A Davidson player goes down after trapping the ball, but no fouls called. We're under one minute.

Richards barely beats the shot clock but misses the three.

Lovedale rejects one and we've got 2.2 secs left.

Whew, first half over.

Maryland Terrapins 44
Davidson Wildcats 43
Taquitos consumed 10
Beers consumed 1

My stats are a little off because it's hard to eat and drink when you're typing like a banshee.


Signal to Noise said...
Odds that CBS will exercise the Viewer Mercy Rule on Stanford-L'Ville viewers and give us the rest of this game are going through the roof.

Not good for live-blogging.

And for some reason I'm getting to watch the disaster right now. I'd actually prefer the halftime crew.

Curry has 18, mostly from the line and three point land.
Jones has 10 for Maryland, with Strawberry close behind at 9 and five rebounds.
No players with more than two fouls in the first half. I think the Terps can change that if they keep going inside.

awful gf said...
did you figure out who was at the door?

Thanks for reminding me. Looks like it was the mailman. Should have invited the poor guy in for some tournament watching.

Sweet! It's an early birthday present from my dad. A new Kansas shirt, still in the bag from the KU bookstore. I have to decide if that shirt has more mojo than my old one.... probably, since we lost the past two years in a row.

We start the second half and it starts with... a three. From Davidson.

46-44 Davidson.

Curry does a nice looping dribble into the paint and scores easily. They're guarding the perimeter and now Curry goes inside. By my count that's 20 for him.

18:24 left in the second. Sander gets fouled on the drive inside. It's 48-44 for Davidson and Sander puts in two foul shots after sending Ebekwe to the bench with three fouls.

Jones misses - I think they need to slow down. Definitely looks like they're forcing shots.

Curry dishes again for an easy two! It's 52-44 Davidson!

Uh oh, Awful GF wants to redecorate the site while her man's team is down eight! Trouble is brewing!

Davidson with two steals in a row. Not making much of the transition game, but still...

Curry misses and the Terps push it. Another steal.

At least the Terps are getting the rebounds. Vasquez hits a three - time to breathe again, AA.

Curry pushes off and Straw is clapping as he hits the deck.

Let's see if Maryland can make a run with Curry on the bench.

Nice Osby gets inside and draws the foul. Davidson's player should have just let that go, he got flat beat.

15:00 left and it's 52-50 for Davidson.

Archambault had a wide open path to the basket but bobbled the handle. Ooooops. Different team without Curry on the floor.

Osby gets fouled in the paint, exactly where this Maryland team needs to be right now. Chance to tie at 52.

And he does, with 14 minutes left.

Yikes. Ibekwe with four fouls now. Lots of game left....

Archambault hits the three to get a three-point lead back.

tie up goes to the Terps.

Straw amazingly misses an inside shot, and Vazquez brings it back down the court to score - it's 55-54 Davidson.

Glad to see Mike White drop by. he gave me some valuable chances to practice my live-blogging during the ACC tournament. The workouts have helped me prepare for the Dance, for sure.

Gist picks up a loose ball and puts MD up 58-55, but Richards quickly cuts that to a one-point lead.

11:00 left, still a one point game for Maryland.

The terps are starting to get their defensive game on as we go to time out in Buffalo.

I realize I'm not getting the score up often enough, but as soon as I type it, it changes. Maybe I should just go Jack Kerouac and type one long sentence as the game plays out.

It's currently 59-58 for Davidson, and as I typed that Osby hit two and got the foul on the other end! Um... 60-59 Maryland.

Good D for Maryland, they get the ball out of bounds after getting a hand on a pass.

Osby goes right along the baseline and scores over Londale. Then he blocks a shot on the other end - Harlan points out that he's done well while Ibekwe is on the bench.

Sander just scored for the first time for Davidson, it's 62-61... now Osby dishes to Gist and it's 64-61 for MD.

Straw strokes a three and it's 67-63 for the Terps. Straw pulls up wisely and sets up a play. Missed shot goes to Curry and he travels while tripping over a Maryland player.

67-63 Maryland with 7:38 to play.

I've consumed beer #2. Couldn't stomach any more taquitos.

The terps have put the clamps on Curry with Straw. Ibekwe gets a rebound and puts it back for a 69-63 lead.

Vazquez misses the three. There's a tie-up under Davidson's basket and it goes to Davidson.

Curry hasn't scored in 12 minutes. Quite a change. Credit DJ Strawberry and his Defense.

6:13 left 69-66 for the Terrapins.

Ibekwe hit another while I was updating the post. It's 71-66 Maryland, and AA is breathing a little, tiny bit easier. Seeing Curry sucking wind probably helps.

Wildcat threes are simply not falling, and Maryland wisely slows down on the ensuing possession. Osby lost the ball though. Davidson is not pushing the ball up the court. Straw rebounds another missed shot for Davidson.

Curry steals and finally scores, 15 minutes since his last point. But still, he has 28.

71-68 Maryland at the time out. 3:20 left.

Wenzel just referenced lactic acid. I didn't know I'd be getting a biology lesson today.

awful gf said...
thanks for the scores ;)

My pleasure. Another advantage of live-blogging over official journalism. Instant contact with readers, and a chance to make course corrections. All part of the service we offer here at AA.

BC/Tech is almost over... Looks like BC is wrapping it up with free throws and only 28 secs left.

Awww... widdle Bobby Knight is sad....

OK back to our game. 71-68 MD, make that 72 after free throws drop.

Curry misses again. If he can't save the Wildcats, nobody can.

Davidson is starting to pack the middle trying to stop the bleeding.

Jones nails a three, so that strategy isn't really working for the Wildcats. 75-68 terps.

MD in control with 1:30 left.

Curry is ice-cold, misses another, so does Richards, but the Wildcats are getting their own rebounds, which gives them more chances. In fact, they finally draw a foul inside, and Ibekwe is out with five fouls.

Curry shoots two free throws to make it 76-69 and the Terrapins are still on top.

1:12 left as we go to timeout.

CBS tries to get a shot of Dell Curry on the sideline, but a large woman stands in front of him. The director must hate that.

75-70 Maryland, Ibekwe out of the game with five fouls. Neal is about to shoot free throws. He looks like he's 30.

We're under a minute, Maryland is up 7. Davidson is missing everything they throw up there. The three turned out to be the only weapon they had, and it went away in the second half.

Still Curry has 30 so far... amazing performance.

Archambault misses a three. It's 78-70 for Maryland, and I think they've got this one with only 32 seconds left.

Maryland now up 10, and they should be moving on, only 24 seconds and Davidson is dead with fatigue. Maryland's subs played very well, and allowed the starters to stay fresh.

Curry fouls out.

82-70 after the foul shots. Game over!

Congrats, AA! I'm going to sit out the next round unless we get the ODU game here in Cville. This has been a great one.

WastingCompanyTime6 said...
Stefan Curry is NICE! what the hell is he doing at Davidson??

One can only assume that looking like your voice hasn't broken yet had something to do with it. Then again, Reggie Miller looked the same, and he went to UCLA.