THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412110230
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Later in the season, Maryland will get more opportunities to convince us that it is not virtually a one-man team.
Let the Terps save the propaganda until then, when the memory of Joe Smith carrying them on his long, skinny legs isn't so fresh.
Against Massachusetts, a little more support is all Smith needed. On a day when Maryland's perimeter players couldn't have thrown the ball into the Inner Harbor, the Terps shot 1 for 14 from 3-point range.
Guess who sank the lone Maryland trey?
That's right. Smokin' Joe.
Despite Smith's reputation and talent, UMass coach John Calipari gambled that the 6-foot-10 sophomore from Norfolk could not beat his team all by himself.
Calipari won the bet. Smith did not beat his team. Not that Joe didn't come close.
Because Calipari is a resourceful coach and his team is grittier than Maryland's, fifth-ranked UMass won, 85-74, avenging its loss to the 11th-ranked Terps last March in the NCAA tournament.
The victory provided Calipari with the luxury of declaring the occasion hardly worth Dick Vitale's shrieking.
``This game means nothing,'' he said. ``It's only December. It's not big that we won. What's big is the way we won.
``We had three guys foul out. We got very little from our All-American. What this game means is we can win on the road if we all pull together.''
Maryland tried to put the best face on it.
``I liked our effort,'' said coach Gary Williams. ``If that's the No. 5 team in the country, then we have a chance to be a very good basketball team.''
That's what Williams was saying. It's only December, after all. What he was thinking was, the Terps let UMass snatch this game away.
Maryland knows it should have won. Senior forward Lou Roe, the UMass All-American, fouled out in 19 minutes with only six points.
Meanwhile, Smith, who is Maryland's preseason All-American, scored 30 points. Trouble is, Joe was often all the Terps had.
``We couldn't get an outside shot to fall,'' Smith said. ``When I got double-teamed, I'd pass it outside, but we couldn't make them pay.''
This played into Calipari's strategy.
``Our whole thing was, we were going to see if (Smith) could beat us by himself,'' he said. ``When he went four or five baskets in a row, then we doubled down on him.''
From his place among the capacity crowd of 13,332 at the Baltimore Arena, Cal Ripken Jr. could have appreciated Smith's Iron Man effort.
Big Joe played 39 of 40 minutes, while absorbing almost constant UMass pounding. Twice he was knocked hard to the floor. At game's end, he left the court limping on a swollen left foot that's been bothering him for several days.
``He's so unassuming to look at,'' Williams said of his franchise player. ``But he really competes.''
Smith's 17 second-half points don't tell the whole story. In one 78-second clinic, he drew three fouls on Marcus Camby, the 6-foot-11 UMass sophomore.
About then, the game began to turn Maryland's way. When Smith strung together a turnaround jumper and six free throws, the Terps took a 71-70 lead with 4:36 to play.
Maryland had seized the momentum. The crowd was roaring. So how do you explain UMass, with Roe on the bench, closing out the game with a 15-3 run?
``This tells us,'' said Calipari, looking very pleased with himself, ``we play this way, we win anyway.''
Smith had to admit, ``They just went out and played harder.''
But not any harder than Joe, who only needed a little more help. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maryland's Joe Smith, left, tries to hold on to the ball at UMass
players apply pressure during the Minutemen's 85-74 victory.
by CNB