Dec. 27, 2000

Box Score| Quotes| Notes

By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Four minutes into the game, Maryland guard Juan Dixon looked up at the scoreboard and almost did a double-take.

"I couldn't believe it was 18-0. It was so fast!" Dixon recalled.

No. 18 Maryland scored the opening 22 points and six players reached double figures in a 117-55 rout of Chicago State on Wednesday night.

It was the seventh-most lopsided victory in school history, and it might have been worse if coach Gary Williams didn't order his team to quit pressing early in the second half.

Dixon scored 24 points and Lonny Baxter 21 to lead the Terrapins (8-3) to their 75th consecutive non-conference home win, the longest such streak in the nation. Maryland led 62-23 at halftime and by 60 with 14 minutes left.

"We crumbled," Chicago State coach Bo Ellis said. "They took us out of everything we needed to do."

The blowout fell short of the school-record victory margin, a 75-point win over North Texas in 1998, but marked only the eighth time Maryland won by at least 60.

It was the seventh straight win for the Terrapins, who face Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday before beginning the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of their schedule.

"Playing a game like this just gets us excited, because we know the ACC is just around the corner," Baxter said.

Danny Osby scored 15 and Tony Jones 12 for the Cougars (3-7), who had 27 turnovers.

Chicago State went nearly five minutes before finally scoring while the Terrapins took control. After Byron Mouton got a steal and a basket, Dixon drilled successive 3-pointers for a 9-0 lead.

Baxter then made two foul shots, Steve Blake hit a 3-pointer and Terrence Morris scored inside before Baxter slammed home an alley-oop pass. Mouton then hit a pair of jumpers for a 22-0 lead, a run that finally ended when Jones scored on a drive with 15:15 left in the half.

"When I told our players that Maryland could come at us, I don't think they understood what we really meant," Ellis said. "Maryland was like a piranha."

Reserve forward Mike Mardesich scored a career-high 15 points for the Terrapins on 7-for-8 shooting. Morris scored 14, his most since a 17-point performance on Nov. 22.

Morris' team-high eight rebounds gave him 706 for his career, 12th on the Maryland career list.