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Maryland Surges Past FSU

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The Associated Press

Published: February 17, 2008

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Embarrassed by his performance in the first half, Maryland's Greivis Vasquez quickly made amends from long range.

Vasquez had 20 points and eight assists, igniting a second-half rally with a trio of 3-pointers, and Maryland beat Florida State 82-72 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday afternoon.

"It's better to play a better game in the second half than in the first half," said Vasquez, who had five points, three assists and four turnovers at halftime. "The last 20 minutes are the most important minutes of the game."

Asked to critique his first-half performance, Vasquez said: "I played horrible. This is one of my worst halves ever."

Landon Milbourne added a career-high 18 points, James Gist scored 17 and Bambale Osby had 14 for the Terrapins (17-9, 7-4), who have won five of six overall and 19 of 23 against the Seminoles (14-12, 3-8).

Despite a career-high 26 points from Ralph Mims, Florida State lost for the fifth time in six games.

Toney Douglas scored 17 points for Florida State, the 28th straight game he has reached double figures. Jason Rich added 12 points.

Vasquez, who briefly went to the bench after picking up his second charging foul 8:29 into the game, sparked an 11-2 run that opened the second half and turned around the Terrapins' eight-point halftime deficit.

Vasquez knocked down three straight 3-pointers, twice connecting from the left wing and then hitting a shot from beyond the top of the key for a 43-42 Maryland lead with 17:55 left.

Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said his team's inability to deal with Maryland's pressure after halftime, coupled with the Terrapins' decision to work the perimeter, helped the Florida State lead to evaporate.

"We turned the ball over six times in the first eight or nine minutes, and that put us on our heels. ... Self-inflicted turnovers - dribble into traps, 10-second violations, two or three possessions like that we could have avoided by playing a little sharper," Hamilton said.

Florida State kept it close before Osby's three-point play started a 10-2 Terrapins spree that wiped away the Seminoles' 57-56 lead, their final one of the game.

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