Terps host Tar Heels, but conditions are different

It started when Terrapin men's basketball guard Greivis Vasquez scored the team's first 16 points. It ended with a court storming.

In between, the Terps staged a 16-point second-half comeback, Vasquez recorded a triple-double and a boisterous crowd inside Comcast Center saw a back-and-forth overtime period that went down to the final possession.

The Terps' 88-85 win against eventual national champion North Carolina last February had all the makings of an instant classic, but also carried a deeper meaning.

It wasn't just an important win on the Terps' NCAA Tournament resume. It was a statement that Vasquez and his undersized, much-criticized teammates could beat the No. 3 team in the country, even in a season that seemed destined for a second consecutive NIT trip.

Sunday's rematch at Comcast Center will be played with an entirely different set of circumstances.

The Tar Heels (13-9, 2-5 ACC) have lost six of their last eight games and haven't been able to find adequate replacements for Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough, the cast that fueled their national championship run.

The Terps (15-6, 5-2) aren't the underdogs anymore, and have an opportunity to run their record to 6-2 at the halfway point of the conference schedule for the first time since 2003.

Even the crowd may be toned down, if only because of the weekend's record-breaking snowstorm, which dropped more than 20 inches of snow on the area. The game, traditionally one of the most anticipated on the Terps' schedule, was sold out far in advance, but Athletics Department officials are advising season ticket holders not to drive to campus for safety purposes.

It should all make for a different type of Terps-North Carolina match-up than in years past.

"You look at their team last year, I think that was one of the best perimeter teams," coach Gary Williams said. "And I think they had good enough, you know, big players to take the roles that they had to play. You look at their point guard last year, guys like Green that could really play on the perimeter, Ellington who was just a great perimeter player, and you lose those guys. So you're not gonna be the same on the perimeter."

The perimeter is where the Tar Heels are hurting most. North Carolina doesn't have a guard averaging more than 10 points a game and a highly touted group of freshmen hasn't yet made up for some of the production lost from last year's departed players.

The Tar Heels' strength lies inside, where forwards Ed Davis and Deon Thompson average a combined 28.4 points per game and 16 rebounds. But with forward Tyler Zeller out with a stress fracture in his foot, that frontcourt hasn't been able to lead an inexperienced bunch to much conference success.

"You look at Davis and Thompson, with a national championship under their belt, then they bring in two big guys that are really skilled to play with them and they've got a couple other people they can put in there, so it's a very deep inside team," Williams said. "Fouls don't really play a part in the way they play in terms of their inside defense. So, it's a different team this year.

"I think as the year goes on, they're getting better, as they get used to their new personnel, and I think it's a very tough team to play in February and in March," Williams added. "I don't judge other people's teams. I just scout them and see what we have to do."

akraut@umdbk.com