WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite leading all scorers with 17 points, Terrapin junior forward James Gist had to field a question from reporters about the game’s most boneheaded play.
Midway through the second half, Gist turned a beautiful pass from freshman guard Greivis Vasquez into a thundering dunk to give the Terps an 18-point lead – and then proceeded to taunt the home team by posing and pointing his two index fingers back downcourt .
If Gary Williams were a referee, Gist probably would have received much worse than a technical foul. At the sight of Gist’s pose, Gary went berserk and seemed ready to banish his emerging star to the bench for weeks.
The technical gave Wake Forest two free throws and a chance to sneak back into the game – which it promptly did behind seldom-used senior Michael Drum, who did his best Larry Bird impression by reeling off 10 straight points.
By the time Drum could be seen high-fiving a handful of courtside spectators, the Demon Deacons trailed 57-49 with eight minutes remaining.
So James, did the fingers have anything to do with the Demon Deacons’ ensuing run?
“It probably had something to do with it,” said a smiling but knowing Gist. “Yeah, I was just trying to be real intense, get my teammates hyped and everything. Maybe it was a bad decision, so I’ll try to calm down.”
Agreed. But in reality, that moment of stupidity could be pivotal in the Terps’ three remaining ACC road games.
While the Terps undoubtedly needed to leave Joel Coliseum with a win, coasting to a 20-point victory over a team that provided little (read: no) resistance before a lackluster crowd would not have translated into success in upcoming conference road games against N.C. State, Clemson or Duke.
Prior to Gist’s pose, Wake Forest looked downright dreadful. The only thing more sickening than the home team’s long-range bricks was its free-throw shooting. At one point, freshman guard Ishmael Smith gave a whole new meaning to the term “wide right” by entirely missing the rim.
And then there was the less-than-capacity crowd. For the game’s first 30 minutes, the Terps may as well have been playing at the Armory in front of a few idle bystanders.
Following the dunk, however, Drum’s heroics brought Tie-Dye Nation out of its haze and even motivated his teammates to start converting open shots and free throws. Finally, this game had the feel of an ACC road game.
The Terps actually had to make clutch plays down the stretch to salt away Wake Forest. And in what should be no surprise to anyone following this team, a pair of freshmen guards stepped up and hit the game’s two biggest shots.
First, Eric Hayes stopped Drum’s run by knocking down an open 3-pointer to boost the Terps’ lead back to 10 with about seven minutes left. Then Vasquez pulled the same trick three minutes later, basically sealing the victory.
A gift-wrapped ACC road win morphed into something more meaningful, something that should help to prepare the Terps in their next game away from Comcast.
Hey James, don’t feel so bad about using those fingers.
Contact columnist Daniel Chiat at chiatdbk@gmail.com.
