UMD Rocks the Flash Mob

There were two really big stories to come out of the University of Maryland on Saturday night: the Terps winning against top-ranked Duke and the student section’s coordinated dancing during two timeouts.

On the side of basketball, Maryland entered the game with a decent overall record but lacking quality wins (except for one of NC State back in January). The team has seemed like it has been on the verge of bursting into the competitive scene for weeks but has failed to win some of the highly needed games. Duke, on the other hand, was sitting with only 2 losses and has had a handful of quality wins outside of the conference (and losses to only ACC top-ranked Miami and NC State). The Blue Devils were ranked #2 in the AP and #1 with the RPI. To Maryland, it does not matter what the record is or what has been accomplished between the two teams. The Terps come to play when Duke enters Comcast, and this was going to be the last game between these 2 teams at Comcast prior to Maryland’s move to the Big Ten.

Alex Len was the focal point of the offense throughout the game, dominating the inside and allowing the Terps to box out/out-rebound the Blue Devils. Seth Allen was the second leading scorer but had to overcome 8 turnovers as he struggled to maintain the point. Dez Wells played balanced overall but was not a dominate force on offense and fouled out before the end of the game. On the other side, Seth Curry racked up the high score of the night of 25 points and the other guards also scored in double figures (Cook – 18, Sulaimon – 16). The surprise for the Terps was how well Len was able to keep Duke’s inside game uneasy, with Mason Plumlee failing to break 4 points. The Terps held on after a pair of free throws and a missed final shot at the buzz by Duke, but the Terps dominated the game with 60% shooting, double the rebounding (38-17) and getting to the line much more than the Blue Devils (25-34/15-21).

Now there was the flash mob. The students arrived in the arena over 3 hours prior to the game to grab their premium seats and learn the dance steps and songs to be used throughout the game. While this is something that normally teams like Duke do, Maryland decided to go big for this final game at Comcast with Duke in the ACC. During an extended timeout in the 1st half, the music started to play and the Turgeonites began to dance. All of a sudden, the rest of the student section burst out of their seats to the music and danced around like they were professionals. The fun returned in the 2nd half with the Harlem Shake. ESPN’s Around the Horn did an off-air bit while they watched the video posted by the school. It was quite a sight to see.