Jan. 21, 2001

Box Score

By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. - Juan Dixon knew he wasn't himself early in the game when he was beaten to two loose balls. No. 12 Maryland didn't allow itself to be beaten without him.

Terence Morris scored 20 points and Lonny Baxter added 18 as the Terrapins matched their best six-game Atlantic Coast Conference start with a 75-61 victory over North Carolina State on Sunday.

The Terrapins (14-4, 5-1 ACC) won without much help from leading scorer Dixon (19.4), who injured his tailbone in practice Saturday and didn't play in the second half.

"This was important for the rest of our players," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "Juan has gotten a lot of attention and scored a lot of points for us, but we have some good players and they have pride and they want to prove they can play. And today they had to step up. We couldn't use an excuse."

Dixon came in averaging 24.2 points in ACC play and had scored at least 19 points in 11 straight games. He ended with just two free throws against the Wolfpack (9-7, 1-4) in 11 minutes top match his season-low point total.

But Morris and Baxter more than picked up the slack on offense, combining to go 15-for-24 from the field, as Maryland won for the 13th time in its last 14 after starting the season 1-3.

"You almost get used to their efforts," Williams said of his two key frontline players.

Dixon said he could have played if needed, but felt he would hurt more than help after re-injuring his back when he fell in the first half.

"That's why I made the decision not to play," Dixon said. "I knew my teammates would do well without me. We showed a lot of people that we can win without me. We have a great TEAM here."

Dixon was coming off a season-high 30-point game against Wake Forest.

The Terrapins were leading by four at halftime - the 18th straight time this season Maryland has lead at the break - and finished off the Wolfpack midway through the period by scoring on seven straight possessions.

Maryland led 46-38 before getting four straight fast-break layups, two free throws by Morris, and then two more layups to go up by 15 with 9:33 left.

"We try to attack pressure," Williams said of the easy baskets. "And I told the team we were really smart when we didn't have it we didn't try to take it through it and get in trouble."

The lead reached 21 five minutes later on a 3-pointer by Drew Nichols as the Terrapins beat the Wolfpack for the 18th time in the last 22 meetings.

An upset Damien Wilkins said the Wolfpack gave up in the second half after Maryland built a double-digit lead.

"It's uncharacteristic for this team or for any team to ever give up at home and play the way we played in the second half," Wilkins said. "The effort wasn't there, the intensity wasn't there. We certainly didn't play any defense."

Maryland also started 5-1 after six games in the ACC under Williams four times in the 1990s.

The win keeps the Terrapins one-half game behind ACC-leading Duke and North Carolina. Maryland hosts the second-ranked Blue Devils on Saturday.

Anthony Grundy scored eight points in the opening 5:23 for the Wolfpack, but was held to eight the rest of the way after battling foul trouble to finish with 16.

There were seven lead changes and four ties in the first half as neither team led by more than seven. But the Wolfpack couldn't hold it together in the second half with another rough shooting day, hitting only 34 percent in a season-low point total.

"We've all been around sports long enough to know it (scoring) is the only thing you get points for, and we're not blind to that fact," Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said.