Great expectations draped Maryland at season’s start. Absent from the rankings for a decade, it had finally resurrected itself in 1994 and returned to the NCAA tourney for the first time in six years.
There, in the second round, the Terps upset mighty Massachusetts, and so it did not matter that they fell a week later to Michigan. Their entire starting lineup, which included a stud center named Joe Smith, would be returning in the fall, and so right then they started hearing the hopeful whispers. “National championship. National championship.”
They heard those whispers and then smiled and summarily ignored them, knowing they could hardly hold that gaudy thought until they faced down twin spectres in their own Atlantic Coast Conference. One was named Duke, the other North Carolina, and only when they defeated both would they be able to consider themselves fully back.
The first, the Blue Devils, were handled on Jan. 28. But not until Tuesday night in their Cole Field House did the Terps manage to face down the Heels. But they did it in smashing style, topping No. 1 North Carolina 86-73 behind those old-fashioned virtues of defense, rebounding and scoring so balanced all of its starters ended in double figures.
Their guards, Duane Simpkins and Johnny Rhodes, ended with 21 points each, followed by Smith (14 points, 16 rebounds), Keith Booth (13 points) and Exree Hipp (12 points). Together, on the boards, they battered the Heels 40-27 and on defense they held them to 40.9 percent shooting and to a mere 10 points over a pivotal 14-minute stretch.
That stretch began with 6:30 left in the half and the Terps trailing 34-21. It ended with 7:50 gone in the second half and the Terps up 54-44. “Everything,” said Booth later, “started with our defense. We know we have guys who can score everytime down the court. It was a matter of making up our minds to stop them.”
Now, with 12 long minutes left, it was a matter of the young Terps hanging on, a matter of this team built around two sophomores and three juniors holding on against the power it hopes to join. Carolina is on a first-name basis with avid affairs like these, but here it would never get closer than five, here it would never rattle its pursuers.
Their heralded star, Jerry Stackhouse, would end with only 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field. Carolina’s big center, Rasheed Wallace, would end with 15, but only half (8) of Smith’s rebound total. And when it came to controlling the clock, to controlling emotions in the midst of a bubbling cauldron, it was not the Heels, but Maryland, who shone most brightly.
This night, in the end, belonged to the Terps, who would soon be hearing the whispers again.