Wahoo Wire

I’ve always wanted to do a running diary column. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s been done a million times, but you essentially just timestamp your observations during a game or event. With Virginia basketball’s ACC season rapidly closing, there weren’t too many opportunities to do one. The rivalry game against Virginia Tech Saturday night seemed like a good option, but I had some Valentine’s Day responsibilities to attend to and couldn’t devote the full two hours to the game. Maryland is probably our second-biggest basketball rival, so Monday’s rescheduled tilt made the most sense. Because the teams’ first meeting was postponed on account of snow, the game was only available on ESPN360, which I’ve only used once before and wasn’t entirely sure how well it translated to the running diary format (read: I wasn’t sure if there would still be commercials to make fun of). Entering tonight’s game Virginia is in fifth place in the ACC at 5-4 (14-7 overall), while Maryland is 6-3 (16-7 overall) and in fourth place. So for non-math majors out there, a Virginia win would put the two teams in a tie for fourth in the conference. Big game. Here we go!

8:00 p.m. ET: ESPN360 thought I wanted to watch the Niagara-Saint Peter’s women’s game, but luckily I don’t miss the tipoff of UVA-Maryland as a result.

8:02: Quint Kessenich doing play-by-play (Did ESPN think this was an ACC lacrosse game?) with Dwight Freeman, former coach of Norfolk State, doing the analysis. The Star Watch graphic oddly shows Sammy Zeglinski and Eric Hayes. Not sure those are the two “stars” I would have picked.

8:04: Maryland wins the jump ball, but is wearing their hideous yellow uniforms. UVA looking great in their navy set. Can we call the result of the opening tip a push?

8:05: Landon Milbourne hits a jumper to give Maryland the early 2-0 lead.

8:06: Kessenich: “Zeglinski still cold.” 1 minute, 13 seconds into the game. Maybe it’s a little early for that.

8:07: 6-0 start for Maryland. Where’s Landesberg?

8:07: Right on cue, Sylven knocks down a three.

8:11: There definitely are commercials, but it looks like the Internet variety. This could mean that it’s just the same ones over and over, like on Hulu. Oh, and of course, they will be much louder than the game broadcast. Stay tuned.

8:12: Mike Scott apparently just forgot that you can’t just jump up and down with the ball without dribbling, passing, or shooting.

8:15: Nice to see Jeff Jones is still alive - four points early, but Vazquez and his terrible faux-hawk draws a foul at the other end

8:16: Dwight Freeman is 3-for-3 pronouncing Vasquez “Vaz-kwez” instead of “Vaz-kez.” Gonna be a long game.

8:16: Will Sherrill (who’s been a nice surprise this season) turns it over for a Maryland dunk at the other end. 18-11 Terps.

8:19: Yup, I think I was right about the commercials. I’m going to be hearing about Dove Men+Care a lot tonight.

8:21: Sherrill misses a second open three. Maryland hits another shot. Shooting 64.7% from the field halfway through the first half.

8:23: Jeff Jones hits a three. Again, nice to have him producing. It was starting to look like a Mamadi Diane situation for him. Also, Jeff Jones is one of those guys that you have to say his first and last name whenever you refer to him.

8:25: Kessenich mentions that Maryland was off from school all last week and claims that when he went to Johns Hopkins, class wasn’t cancelled for anything short of a nuclear disaster. Hmm, I know a place like that…

8:25: I’ve been really impressed with Virginia’s defense this year. The porousness (real word?) of the defense the past few seasons has been patched up and the commitment to help defense has been effective without leaving guys on the other team wide-open. It’s refreshing to have a coach preach defense from his team and then actually hold them accountable for that. With that said, I’m getting some flashbacks to the D of the past four years in the game tonight.

8:26: What is the deal with announcers’ fascination with coach’s sons? I feel like this has been a recurring theme this season. Maybe it’s influenced by Bennett since it’s a requirement in every broadcast to reiterate that he played for his dad then coached for with his dad then replaced his dad and all that. But I feel like broadcasters are mentioning it a lot more in non-Virginia games for players as well. It’s getting a little tired.

8:28: Vasquez just threw a ball off the backboard, off the Jumbotron, and off Gary Williams’ head and it went in. He has 18 to lead all scorers by leaps and bounds. Farrakhan turns it over on the other end and Maryland hits a wide-open three. This is getting out of control. Timeout Virginia.

8:29: Dove Men+Care for the third time. They really want me to be comfortable in my own skin.

8:30: Now we have a timeout where we get to hear Kessenich pontificate about nothing for two minutes. This is what happens when you get ESPN’s GG broadcast team.

8:34: I think Freeman just called Zeglinski “Galinski.” Reminds me of the time an announcer called me “Kevin Zalazinski” every time I came up to bat for a game in high school.

8:37: Vasquez hits a three to bring his total to 21, half of Maryland’s 42 to Virginia’s 27. Under-four-minute timeout. Dove Men+Care Round 4.

8:40: Maryland is just blowing past Virginia defenders and dominating in the paint. Gary Williams isn’t even working up a sweat. Terps just want it more right now.

8:42: Maryland fans stay classy as always as Sylven Landesberg shoots two free throws.

8:43: Kessenich: “Landesberg is a scorer. He’s just a scorer.” Umm, not tonight. 8 points on 3-8 shooting through 18 minutes with Vasquez torching his team.

8:43: Freeman adds that Sylven doesn’t do anything great, he just does everything well. Wait, wasn’t he the ACC Freshman of the Year last season and isn’t he tied for third in the league in scoring right now?

8:45: Jontel Evans causes a turnover. QK (guessing that wasn’t his nickname growing up) calls it a rare mistake by Maryland. That is factually correct.

8:47: 52-34 Terps at the half. Definitely wouldn’t want to be in there with Coach Bennett right now. They need a Hoosiers-level pep talk to turn this around.

8:49: I wonder if there is a soap out there that can help make me comfortable in my own skin…

9:00: Looking at the halftime stats, I’m pretty sure ESPN360 wants a mulligan on their picks for Star Watch. Sammy Zeglinski: 0 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist. Eric Hayes: 8 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists. Not a terrible pick on the Maryland side, until you see that Vazquez has 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 bad haircut.

9:02: Vasquez is on pace for 50 points, not on par, QK.

9:04: Nice move by Mike Scott, but it won’t fall and then Maryland beats them to the rebound, goes down the court, and scores easily. The play-by-play is starting to sound like a broken record.

9:05: Everything continues to fall for the Terps (I spent a minute trying to come up with a Chicken Little-related joke here, but decided against it).

9:07: Nice pass by Galinski to Jeff Jones, who makes a second chance lay-up and now leads the team with 14. He’s just three points away from his season-high back on November 24th against Stanford. Can you tell I’m trying desperately to find a bright spot in a 56-36 game?

9:09: Former Norfolk State coach Dwight Freeman made a name for himself making guys on other teams go left-handed? Funny, I didn’t know his name until 8:02 PM tonight.

9:10: No Dove commercial!!?! Nope, two minutes of a black screen and silence. I should be happy, but I’ve been conditioned to think this means something is wrong with my computer…

9:12: Game abruptly comes back on. Phew.

9:13: Apparently, it’s going to be tough for Virginia to win without Landesberg scoring. Even though he’s not great, Dwight?

9:14: Cliff Tucker for Maryland just weaved through defenders like a stock car driver through traffic cones then dished to Landon Milbourne for a lay-up. When did Maryland become early-70s UCLA?

9:16: The Terrapins are basically putting on the basketball equivalent of Tom Emanski’s training videos tonight.

9:18: They just played the same Matt Ryan Gillette Fusion commercial two times in a row. Can Matt Ryan even grow facial hair?

9:19: Shatner Priceline commercial reminds me of this YouTube classic (that I somehow didn’t see for the first time until last week).

9:22: Kessenich says for the 80th time that Bennett is a positive, even-keeled guy. Not sure how even-keeled he will be after this one.

9:23: ESPN360 ruins my running Dove joke by doing another blank timeout break and not showing a Dove commercial since halftime.

9:28: Vasquez hasn’t scored in the second half. Mind-boggling considering what he did in the first.

9:30: Farrakhan tries to get another dunk in Sportscenter Top 10…and gets rejected. What’s more surprising: that or the fact that Microsoft Word doesn’t think Farrakhan needs to be spell-checked?

9:31: Oh, Dove Men+Care, how I have missed you. Tell me more about micromoisture!

9:35: Maryland got a verbal from something called a Pe’Shon Howard. Had to look up how to spell his first name. Is it insensitive to say the apostrophe name thing is getting a little out of hand?

9:37: Freeman sums up the game with one of the few meaningful things he’s said all night: “Everything Maryland throws up goes in.”

9:38: Maryland shooting 70% from the field. I think that qualifies as everything going in.

9:39: Bennet trots out Tristan Spurlock. When does Will Sherrill get some scrub time? Oh, wait…

9:40: By the eighth time you see the commercial, Dove Men+Care doesn’t seem that new. Just sayin.

9:42: Spurlock ruins his bid for back-to-back Trillions with a two-handed jam and some hanging on the rim for good measure. He should probably keep in mind the score, but it’s Maryland so who really cares?

9:43: Gary Williams sweats profusely when he eats a sandwich and he hasn’t needed to dab his brow once tonight.

9:47: Farrakhan finally gets his dunk to cut the deficit to 19.

9:48: Maryland 85, Virginia 66, Final. The Terps improve to 7-3, tied for third in the league. The Hoos fall to 5-5, fifth in the standings (but behind six teams).

In hindsight, maybe this wasn’t the best game for my first running diary. It’s a game that the Hoos shouldn’t dwell on. It got out of hand early, and there’s only so much you can do when a team makes 70% of their shots. Virginia has too tough a schedule coming up to let this linger. This team still has a legitimate shot to finish above .500 in the ACC. It won’t be easy; it will take the focus and dedication that the team showed through January when they sat atop the conference standings. Besides, they’ve got at least one game in the bag: UVA has beaten Maryland at home three straight years (the last two to close out the regular season). Thanks for reading. Now, I have to go find some Dove Men+Care.