By By PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA — With every Wake Forest miss, the Maryland Terrapins got a little closer to the NCAA tournament.
They might be in now.
Greivis Vasquez scored 22 points and the Terrapins advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Friday night with a crucial 75-64 upset of No. 9 Wake Forest, which was doomed by its worst shooting performance of the season.
Maryland (20-12) pulled away from a 36-31 halftime lead as the Demon Deacons (24-6) missed time and time again, finishing 29.7 percent from the field. The Terps made up for a 65-63 loss to Wake Forest 10 days earlier and won for the second straight night, following up a win over North Carolina State.
Before the tournament, coach Gary Williams said two wins should put Maryland in the NCAAs. The Terps moved on to face No. 9 Duke or Boston College in the semis Saturday, giving them yet another chance to impress the selection committee.
Williams said he made up ‘‘Win 2’’ T-shirts for his team to wear in Atlanta. He was only kidding, but that surely was the message he tried to convey to his team.
James Johnson led Wake Forest with 20 points. The Demon Deacons have already done plenty to land an NCAA bid, but the one-and-done showing at the Georgia Dome could hurt their seeding.
Maryland doesn’t want to stop now. The Terps know two wins might be enough to get them into the 65-team field, but three would be even better.
The Terps essentially locked up the game with a 14-2 spurt at the start of the second half. A decisive series of 3-pointers finished off the run.
L.D. Williams missed a trey from the corner for Wake Forest. Vasquez hit one at the other end for Maryland. James Johnson of the Demon Deacons clanked one from outside the arc. The Terps’ Sean Mosley swished a long-range shot.
Wake Forest called timeout, then failed to get off a shot before the 35-second clock expired. Landon Milbourne hit a turnaround jumper to give Maryland its biggest lead, 50-33, with 15 minutes remaining.
The Demon Deacons didn’t get closer than eight points the rest of the way, finishing 22 of 74 from the field. It was their worst shooting percentage of the season, eclipsing a 31.7 percent showing against Miami in early February.
Among the starters, Al-Farouq Aminu was 2 of 12, Jeff T meo f3 liswt3f9adh caa se lfuo iso.ohn oee a fi1 aep u et v tlcbn oadml7o5
Th eachyhtfm sdo.Temdoy f2fmeodhaca1pcn uesaettloa eroso esan I hscohl,a os uu1 piesi n ncsedOyo wti
alnti ou fh nsot ae ne miga os uumr a slTeeo ansh bnvaigutv 2aet rgm es inth l h uu an hTr. ‘h’e rarvnta’ lasad‘egbeatebthttey ou pn le’ ImlSt iWe e hsodhfcsn h pt6- i : eii.u a ealcondn ytuho cmakMradae6f1 o nrne ‘ nwuta eeai l, e ad.‘It faeo aaltemet ogteedft a.Ia xtdfeIh .’ ‘oa , iimciedin.1tm,bthsh hmVseuul m i hbghtrpswnstmnd t dt nzeango prncs olhd1pis ys1n e .Mlonwkdt od,oi pih0ron. osnw acllya oeloldi a t1 eud uTau t1 nswsh nytepari ueiue e ese a‘ a u hcne hle uiddthp tnh’ hs a.‘ayn spadgodes’
PE0-392ET