Maryland (14-7, 3-4) at #4 North Carolina (19-2, 5-2)The North Carolina Tar Heels welcome the Maryland Terrapins into the Dean Dome tonight. Last year, the Terrapins came to Carolina unranked and shocked the #1 Heels. Maryland will once again be a heavy underdog this year, especially after their embarrassing effort at Duke a little over a week ago. The Terps did get a much needed win over Miami on Saturday that could give them a little confidence coming into this one. The Tar Heels have won 5 in a row after dropping their first 2 conference games. Last week they got a fight from an underrated Florida State team, winning at the buzzer on PG Ty Lawson's beautiful 3 pointer, then Saturday they went to Raleigh and blew out their "rivals" North Carolina State.
The Tar Heels are of course led by F Tyler Hansbrough and Lawson, other key players in tonight's game will be G Wayne Ellington, and G-F Danny Green.
The Terps will need a huge game by their statistical leader in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, G Grievis Vasquez. Obviously size will be a concern for Maryland, never a good sign if your point guard is your leading rebounder, and Vasquez will have to limit the turnovers. Another interesting stat is that only 3 of Maryland's 21 games have been on the road this year, where they currently stand at 0-3. The Heels definitely remember last year and will be sufficiently motivated. I sense a blowout.
Prediction: North Carolina 83, Maryland 67
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