Terps fall at Wake Forest in OT, 85-83

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Greivis Vasquez acknowledged afterward that he probably should've taken the ball to the basket.

But when the Terrapin guard got a clean look for a potential go-ahead three in the last 15 seconds of overtime Tuesday against Wake Forest, the Venezuelan with a flare for the dramatic couldn't pass it up.

That shot clanged off the rim long. And when Sean Mosley corralled the rebound and misfired on his own attempt in the waning seconds, his team's hopes of escaping Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a win faded too.

But even in the minutes after an 85-83 overtime loss to the Demon Deacons, he had no regrets.

"I thought we got two good looks," said Vasquez, who finished with 30 points on a career-high 27 shot attempts. "We just didn't finish."

Playing their second ACC contest in three days, the Terps (10-5, 1-1 ACC) narrowly missed out on their first 2-0 ACC start since 2003. The Terps failed to convert on the final possession of regulation and missed several opportunities in the final two minutes of overtime to go ahead before Ishmael Smith's contested floater put Wake Forest (12-3, 2-1 ACC) ahead for good with 20 seconds left.

"That's the way it goes," coach Gary Williams said of his team's critical final possession. "You want to put the ball into the hands of your best player if you can in that situation — or at least I do."

The Terps, who had won in their last two trips to Wake Forest, shot just 2-of-8 from the floor and hit just 3-of-6 free throws in overtime. Yet they tied the game at 83 on Jordan Williams' tip-in with 50 seconds left.

That's when Smith, who Gary Williams called the quickest player in the ACC, attacked Eric Hayes off the dribble and rolled in what proved to be the game-winning shot. The guard finished with 16 points and eight assists on 8-of-23 shooting.

"If you asked me if that's the last shot they're going to get — a fade-away one-handed fall-away floater — I probably would've taken it," said Hayes, who became the 48th Terp to top the 1,000 career point mark with his eight-point effort. "But he made the shot, so you've got to give him credit."

"I thought we did OK on him, but he made the big one when he had to," added Williams.

The Terps gave themselves a chance at the end of regulation by hitting key shots down the stretch after a mostly uneven first 36 minutes. The team hit five of its final seven shots in regulation.

After trailing by three heading into the half, the Terps didn't surge back ahead until Landon Milbourne's three-pointer with 2:15 remaining put them up 71-70.

The final two minutes of regulation featured three lead changes and two ties before Al-Farouq Aminu, who led Wake Forest with 24 points, tied it by making two-of-three free throws with 29 seconds left.

On the final possession of regulation and the game tied at 76, Vasquez tried in vain to shake Smith. On his wild drive to the hoop, Vasquez kicked it to Mosley. But Mosley missed a 17-footer. The Terps attempted tip-in flew wide and the game went to overtime.

"We almost got it," Vasquez said of a game that featured 10 ties and six lead changes. "I don't want to say they got a little lucky, but I might give them credit this time because they won the game."

Afterward, the Terps picked through the positives after a grueling stretch that included two games in three days with travel — plus the extra five minute overtime session.

The Terps outrebounded the bigger Demon Deacons, 43-41, thanks in large part to 13 rebounds by Mosley — a 6-foot-4 guard. They also got improved offensive efforts from Jordan Williams, who supplied 10 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and Adrian Bowie, who had 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

While the Terps dropped their first game of the season decided by less than six points, Gary Williams pointed to several key turnovers that cost his team extra possessions.

But as the season moves forward, the team will probably most remember the several potential game-winners that never fell.

"We know we can be a great team," Bowie said. "We know we should've won this game. The ball just didn't roll our way."

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