When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was Gary Williams' 131st nonconference home win in 134 tries. When Maryland hosts Delaware on Friday, he'll take his third whack at number 132. After losing to Ohio, Williams and the Terps got beat in College Park again yesterday by their neighbors from American. That's a pretty rare occurance in the 80 year history between the two schools. The only other Eagles win was in their first meeting, sometime in the 1926-27 season. The exact date has escaped memory, something that's unlikely to happen with yesterday's 67-59 win. Derrick Mercer won't soon forget his 18 points, for example, and Bryce Simon will always remember his career-high 17. None of the Eagles will forget holding the Terps to five first half baskets nor will they need reminders of the way they outhustled, outrebounded and outdefended their more heralded opponents. For a team that's lost to Fairfield and Loyola (MD), this win came out of left field and will have Williams pulling out his hair in search of answers.
Greivis Vasquez had 28 points and the other guard Eric Hayes had 16 but the rest of the Terps only made four baskets. Maryland was so flat and lifeless, though, that its pretty clear the problems go well beyond shooting. Williams benched Braxton Dupree and Landon Milbourne in the second half, probably the first of many changes in what's looking like a long season.
Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:
Appalachian State 74, Arkansas 67 - The year of upsets continues for the Mountaineers. Donald Sims had 24 points off the bench and ASU shot a ridiculous 66.7% from the field to pull off the win. That shooting overcame 22 turnovers but the biggest factor may have been the court. The Razorbacks are 9-38 away from home over the last five years and even though the Fayetteville court was in state, it wasn't technically a home game.
Butler 78, Florida Gulf Coast 66 - The Bulldogs had a tougher time than expected against the Atlantic Sun's Eagles but won on the back of free throw shooting. They made 26-of-28 from the line, 14 in the final six minutes, while FGC only converted 17 of their 28 tries.
Louisiana-Lafayette 82, East Tennesse State 80 (OT) - A trip to Hawaii that started with a bang when they beat Georgia ended with a thud for the Buccaneers. Chris Gradingo had 21 points and Randell Daigle nailed a big three in overtime to help the Rajin Cajuns take third in the Rainbow Classic.
Virginia Commonwealth 79, Bradley 64 - Bradley led by nine in the first half but after Daniel Ruffin left with an injury and Eric Maynor went off it was all Rams. Maynor finished with 30 points and Larry Sanders had six blocks to send Bradley to their worst home loss in three years.
Southern Illinois 88, Western Kentucky 78 - See what making shots can do for you, Salukis? SIU made 56.5% of their shots, Wesley Clemmons had 24 points off the bench and the Salukis ended a two-game skid with a quality win against a good Hilltoppers squad. Courtney Lee, the could-be Sun Belt player of the year, had 30 for WKU but with Randal Falker and Matt Shaw joining Clemmons as 20-point scorers there was no stopping the home side.
Wichita State 61, UAB 52 - The Shockers pulled off a second straight win against a major conference foe thanks to Phil Thomasson's 15 points and seven rebounds. Robert Vaden had another hot one for the Blazers with 23 points but he fouled out after cutting the deficit to three and UAB faded out of view.
