Maryland's 103-75 victory puts the Terrapins (No. 6 USA Today/ESPN/No. 8 AP) back on track after seeing their eight-game win streak snapped at No. 21 Oklahoma. Tonight the Terps saw a nine-point lead from the opening minutes dwindle to one point twice in the first half, but shot 9-of-16 (.562) in the final 8:45 of the opening period and outworked William & Mary on the boards, 12-6, to bring a 50-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Maryland scored a season-high 103 points in regulation against the Tribe -- the most since a 104-92 victory at Clemson on Jan. 2 of last season. Maryland made thirteen made three pointers to eclipse its school record, freshly set with 12 against Temple on Nov. 9 of this season.
The win extends Maryland's national-leading non-conference home court win streak to 83. The streak began nearly 12 years ago on Dec. 30, 1989, with a 110-91 Terp win over Alcorn State.
Maryland now owns a 22-8 series advantage over the Tribe and have won the last 12 match-ups. It was the first meeting between the two schools since Dec. 5, 1985, and was the first win over William & Mary for Gary Williams at Maryland.
Five Terrapins -- Juan Dixon (team-high tying 19 points), Byron Mouton (19 points), Drew Nicholas (14 points), Lonny Baxter (12 points) and Chris Wilcox (11 points) -- scored in double-figures, marking the second time this season (Dec. 11, 2001 vs. Monmouth) that the Terps have had as many double-digit scorers.
The Terrapins were 14-of-18 (.778) from the free throw line in the first half and finished 22-of-31 (.710) for the game. The Terps have posted a .713 free throw percentage in the last six games after shooting .534 in their first five games. Mouton led the way by making 9-of-12 (.750) from the line.
Dixon led the Terps in scoring for the fifth time this season, was 3-of-4 from 3-point range, handed out a career-high nine assists and recorded four steals to inch toward third place on the all-time ACC steals chart. He now totals 274 in his career, and is approaching Tyrone Bogues, who collected 275 steals for Wake Forest from 1984-87.
Baxter added 10 rebounds to his 12 points for his 27th career double-double and fourth of the season. He also contributed double-doubles against Connecticut (Dec. 3), Princeton (Dec. 2) and Delaware State (Nov. 24), and needs only 15 points to reach 1,500 for his career.
Guard/forward Mouton scored 12 of his season-high 19 points in the first half marking his third game of double-figure scoring out of the last four. The versatile senior has contributed 57 points in the last four games after scoring 18 points in the previous four games combined.
Junior point guard Steve Blake dished out a season-high tying nine assists and broke into the top 25 on the all-time ACC assists chart. Blake now totals 543 for his career.
Junior guard Nicholas racked up 14 points on 5-of-8 (.625) shooting and bombed in a pair from long range. Nicholas' scoring total was the fifth-highest of his career and the most since March 3 of last season against Virginia.
Wilcox scored 11 points, pulled in four rebounds and blocked two shots. It was the third straight game of double-figure scoring for the sophomore.
Junior transfer Ryan Randle played a season-high tying 13 minutes and finished with nine points and nine rebounds -- both new single-game highs as a Terp.
Junior guard Calvin McCall saw four minutes of action, registered his first career blocked shot and nailed a 3-pointer in the game's waning moments.
Tonight's game marks the first time all season that all 12 Terrapins notched playing time.
