Jan. 15, 2000

Box Score

By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) - No. 18 Maryland had little reason to fear Shaun Fein. Supposedly Georgia Tech's shooting guard, he made a mockery of that title during a three-game losing streak, hitting only 4-of-23 before Saturday night's game against the Terrapins.

But Fein redeemed himself by scoring 17 points and making four 3-pointers to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 69-68 upset of Maryland.

"The Maryland defense lost me," said Fein, who also made two critical free throws with 53 seconds remaining.

Juan Dixon scored a career-high 31 points but couldn't get off a shot at the end, sending Maryland to its third straight loss in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"We are close, but we are not there," coach Gary Williams said. "It's very disappointing to lose like this."

Dixon blocked a shot by Fein with about 15 seconds left. Maryland hurried down the court and got the ball in the hands of its leading scorer, who drove in the lane but had the ball knocked away as he attempted to pass.

"I wish Juan had tried to get off a shot," Williams said. "He might have made it or have been fouled. But he chose to pass instead."

Maryland (11-5) dropped to 0-3 in the ACC for the first time since 1995-96, which also was the last season the Terrapins lost to Tech.

The Yellow Jackets (8-7, 1-2) snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series and picked up their first victory of the season over a ranked team after falling short four previous times.

"Finally, something good has happened to us, and it's a wonderful feeling," said coach Bobby Cremins, whose team was coming off road losses to Kentucky, Virginia and Duke. "I was wondering if that took the heart out of this team. The way we started the game, it looked like that. But we fought back."

Tech fell behind by 11 points in the first half before Fein hit a couple of 3-pointers during a run that cut Maryland's lead to 39-35 at the break.

He finished 4-of-7 from outside the arc and Tech was 9-of-17 overall, taking advantage of Maryland's focus on 7-foot Jason Collier and 6-11 Alvin Jones.

"They were double-teaming the post early on," Fein said. "I was able to free myself."

The Yellow Jackets started the second half with a 12-2 spurt, going ahead for good when Collier tipped in a missed shot with 17:18 remaining.

Williams tried frantically to keep his team in the game, but used up his timeouts with more than eight minutes remaining. At the end, he couldn't stop the game to set up a play.

"Our guys had an open look coming down the court, but we didn't take the shot," Williams said.

The Terps closed to 67-65 when Terence Morris was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three shots from the line with 1:01 left.

Fein was fouled in the backcourt trying to bring the ball up and made both free throws to give Tech a little breathing room. It proved to be crucial when Danny Miller hit a trey with 44 seconds left.

The Yellow Jackets, after making only 5-of-12 free throws in the first half, made 11-of-12 in the second.

Maryland had not lost to the Yellow Jackets since Jan. 3, 1996, winning 91-60 in Atlanta a year ago. Tech committed a staggering 51 turnovers in the two meetings last season and managed to overcome 21 in this game, leading to 22 points for the Terps.

Maryland started out like it was going to blow away the Yellow Jackets again. After Tech scored the first basket of the game, the Terps broke loose on a 16-3 spurt.

Although the Jackets weathered the storm, Maryland still led 35-24 after Dixon's baseline jumper with 5:06 remaining in the half. But Fein's two 3s highlighted an 11-4 run that made it close at the half.