Maryland vs. Connecticut: Postgame Notes

Dec. 3, 2001

Maryland's 77-65 victory gives the Terrapins (No. 3 AP/No. 2 USA Today/ESPN) their second consecutive BB&T Classic title and marks the Terps' fourth championship in the seven years of the tournament. Maryland becomes the first team in history to win back-to-back BB&T Titles.

The Terrapins have won six games in a row since their season-opening loss to now-No. 4/7 Arizona and 16 of their last 19 dating back to last season. The Terps' four consecutive victories in the BB&T Classic (2000, 2001) are a tournament record.

Connecticut cut a 14-point Terp lead to one at 7:49 in the first half with a 13-0 run from 12:11 to 7:49. Maryland edged the Huskies 15-14 in the final 7:12 of the first half, and then went on a 16-4 run in the second half's first 5:55 to go up, 52-38 (14 points), on 6-of-14 (.529) shooting. Connecticut never got closer than seven points from there (on a three-pointer by Ben Gordon, with 8:11 to play).

Connecticut outrebounded Maryland, 45-36, for the game. The Terps are 4-0 when outrebounding opponents and 2-1 when trailing an opponent on the boards this season.

Maryland scored 28 points on 21 UConn turnovers, versus 18 points for the Huskies on 15 Terp giveaways.

Senior forward/center Lonny Baxter scored seven of the Terps' first nine points for the second game in a row and finished with a game-high 24 points and team-high 10 rebounds. That marks Baxter's third double-double of the season and second in two games, and the 26th double-double of his career.

Senior guard Juan Dixon, a .468 career shooter, was only 2-of-13 (.154) in the first half. He improved to 3-of-5 (.600) in the second half and finished with 16 points, six steals, five rebounds and three assists.

Dixon had tied for the BB&T tournament record for steals by haltime with five, and his six for the game gave him a new BB&T record two-day total of 12. He once again moved up on the ACC all-time steals chart, breaking into the top 5 with 264 thefts in his career. Dixon moves into fifth place, surpassing Duke's Tommy Amaker who totaled 259 from 1984-87.

Dixon's third appearance on the BB&T all-tournament team (1999, 2000, 2001) is the most in history by an individual player.

Junior forward Tahj Holden set a new season-high with 15 points on 5-of-7 (.714) shooting, including a three-pointer and a perfect 4-of-4 performance at the free throw line.

Connecticut's Caron Butler scored 20 points, which included a perfect 6-of-6 mark from the charity stripe, to total 34 points on the weekend and earn all-tournament honors.

2001 BB&T Classic All-Tournament Team

Lonny Baxter

, Maryland - MVP

Juan Dixon, Maryland

Caron Butler, Connecticut

Greg Collucci, George Washington

Chris Monroe, George Washington

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