No. 6 Terps Travel To Maui
11/16/2000 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2000
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Gary Williams and the Maryland Terrapins begin the 78th season of Terrapin basketball on Monday, Nov. 20 as the No. 6-ranked Terps battle Louisville in the first round of the Maui Invitational. The ESPN-televised matchup is scheduled for a 9 p.m. tipoff.
The Terrapins enter their second Maui Invitational, returning to the Lahaina Civic Center for the first time since 1994 in Williams' fifth season as his alma mater's head coach. Now in his 12th year at Maryland, Williams takes one of his most talented teams into one of the most talent-laden tournament fields in college basketball history.
Joining the Terps among Top 10-ranked contenders in this year's field are No. 1 Arizona and No. 8 Illinois, 13th-ranked Connecticut will most certainly vie for a title, while Louisville, UNLV and Dayton complete a cast of invitees which each earned bids to last year's NCAA Tournament. This year's field is the first in Maui history in which all seven mainland visitors have played in the previous season's NCAA Tournament.
Maryland, a participant in seven consecutive NCAA Tourneys, enters the three-day Maui event with a pair exhibition wins under its belt.
The Terps opened the preseason with a 110-77 win over the touring London Leopards back on Nov. 3. Lonny Baxter (Silver Spring, Md.) and Juan Dixon (Baltimore, Md.) each scored 20 points against the Leopards as Maryland opened a 21-point halftime advantage and cruised to the 33-point win. Sophomore Steve Blake (Miami Lakes, Fla.) added 11 assists as the Terrapins shot 57.5 percent from the floor.
Dixon scored 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting to lead Maryland to a 91-55 rout of the California All-Stars on Nov. 15. A sluggish beginning resulted in a 34-30 halftime advantage, but the Terps blitzed the visitors with 69 percent shooting in the second half, compared to just 25 percent for the All-Stars. Dixon added five steals and six rebounds to lead a lineup which featured 10 Terps playing at least 14 minutes.
A Rugged Beginning
Six games away from Cole Field House and six straight games against ranked opponents -- or at least teams which participated in 2000 postseason tournaments -- that marks the opening to the Terrapins' season this week.
Maryland ventures to Maui (Nov. 20-22), followed by an ACC/Big Ten Challenge date at defending Final Four participant Wisconsin (Nov. 29), and a weekend at the BB&T Challenge in Washington D.C. (Dec. 2-3) with visitors Michigan and St. John's, and co-host George Washington. It is Maryland's longest streak away from home to begin a season since the Terps began playing in Cole Field House in 1955-56.
Terps Slip In AP Poll
Without ever playing a game, Maryland joined Stanford last week in slipping one spot in the Associated Press college basketball poll, in order to make room for Kansas' jump from No. 7 to No. 4. Stanford began the new week at No. 5, Maryland is No. 6 and North Carolina, though 2-0, is No. 7.
For Terrapin coach Gary Williams, Maryland's No. 5 preseason ranking by the AP marked the highest that his team has ever been ranked entering the preseason. Two years ago, with junior Steve Francis entering a lineup which also included current NBA players Laron Profit and Obinna Ekezie, the Terps entered the year ranked No. 6 by the AP. The Terps were preseason No. 7 in 1994 to mark the only other top 10 preseason ranking during Williams' 12 seasons at Maryland.
Overall, it is the sixth time in Maryland history that the Terps have opened in the top five, but the first since Lefty Driesell was the Terrapins' coach. The 2000 preseason ranking marks the 10th time that Maryland has been voted in the top 10 of an AP preseason poll. Previous Terp top 10 preseason rankings by the Associated Press: 1971-6th, 1973-4th, 1974-4th, 1975-3rd, 1976-8th, 1980-4th, 1983-8th, 1994-7th, 1998-6th.
Rankings
Maryland is No. 6 in the Nov. 12 AP poll, No. 7 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 9 in preseason Sagarin Ratings. Other ACC and 2000-01 opponents in the polls (AP/USA):
Arizona (1/1), Duke (2/2), North Carolina (7/4), Illinois (8/9), Connecticut (13/13), Wisconsin (19/22), Wake Forest (18/18), Oklahoma (21/21), St. John's (24/NR) and Virginia (25/25).
Records
The Terps open their regular season at the Maui Invitational. All teams in the Maui Invitational except Maryland, Dayton and Chaminade open their regular seasons on Friday, Nov. 17.
Series Histories At Maui
Though Louisville leads a short series (5-1) that hasn't been active for eight seasons, each game has seemingly had significance.
-- Maryland won the schools' most recent meeting, 72-67 on Dec. 28, 1992 at Cole Field House. That win was No. 23 in what is now Maryland's nation's-longest home court win streak.
-- The Cardinals earned a 96-79 decision the previous season in 1991, in what was the schools' first meeting in 11 seasons. In 1980, in what was the last time Maryland was a preseason top-five pick by the AP, it was Louisville's 78-67 victory that was responsible for knocking the No. 4 Terps out of the Top 5.
-- The Terps and Cards have met in tournament play twice before -- at the 1961 Sugar Bowl Tournament (Louisville 83-64) in New Orleans, and the 1975 NCAA Midwest Region Final at Las Cruces, N.M. (Louisville, 96-82). That game on March 22, 1975 was the last time that Maryland appeared in the NCAA's Elite Eight.
In a possible second-round matchup at Maui, Maryland is 2-1 all-time against Illinois and 1-4 against UNLV.
Maryland bested the Illini at last season's BB&T Classic, 69-67, on Juan Dixon's running jumper with 6.3 seconds remaining. The Terps beat Illinois 67-61 in a 1998 NCAA West Region Second Round game in Sacramento, and lost 72-70 to the Illini in an NCAA Sweet 16 contest in 1984 in Lexington.
Against the Rebels, Maryland won the series' first meeting, 81-68, in a Feb. 4, 1978 home game. UNLV has won four straight games, however, including two contests in the 1985-86 season -- a 64-61 home loss to the Runnin' Rebs in December, and a 70-64 loss to the Rebels in the 1986 NCAA Tournament Second Round at Long Beach. The last meeting between the teams was the last game ever coached at Maryland by Lefty Driesell.
Against the other side of the Maui bracket, Maryland is 0-2 against both Arizona and Connecticut, 2-1 against Dayton and 1-0 against Chaminade.
Next Games
Following the Maui Invitational, the Terps are in Milwaukee (Bradley Center) to face defending Final Four participant Wisconsin on Nov. 29 as part of the second annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The MCI Center in Washington D.C., is host to the annual BB&T Classic on Dec. 2 and 3, where Maryland co-hosts visiting Michigan and St. John's with cross-town rival George Washington. Tickets for the BB&T Classic went on sale on Monday, Oct. 16 at all TicketMaster locations.
Maryland's regular season home opener is on Dec. 6 against second-year Div. I affiliate Stony Brook.
