Terrapins Travel To Wake Forest On Wednesday
1/21/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2002
Maryland vs. Wake Forest Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland (No. 3 AP, No. 3 USA Today/ESPN) takes a 4-1 ACC mark and a six-of-seven game win streak into Wednesday's conference showdown at Wake Forest (No. 21 AP, No. 16 USA Today/ESPN). Both clubs are battling for the top spot in the ACC, both falling at Duke within the last week and scrapping with one another to keep pace behind the Blue Devils. Tipoff in Winston-Salem is 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan. 23 on ESPN2.
* Maryland is 14-3 overall and 4-1 in the ACC after Thursday's 99-78 loss at top-ranked Duke, and Sunday's 99-90 win over Clemson.
* Wake Forest is 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the ACC following the Deacs' 103-80 loss at Duke last Saturday.
TERP NOTES & STORYLINES
* A Maryland victory will keep the Terps in an early first-place tie in the ACC standings, and match their 5-1 ACC start a year ago. Duke is already 5-1. A Terrapin loss would move Wake Forest even with the Terps at 4-2.
* A win over the Deacs will secure Maryland a ninth straight season of at least 15 wins, and virtually assure a ninth straight winning campaign.
* Wednesday's game at Wake Forest is Maryland's third in six days - with two of those on the road. Maryland lost at Duke last Thursday night and beat Clemson on Sunday evening in College Park.
* The Terps return to Winston-Salem, the sight of a major turning point in last season's run to the Final Four. Having lost five of six, including a home loss only three days earlier to Florida State, Maryland convincingly defeated Wake Forest 73-57 at Joel Memorial Coliseum to begin a season-ending stretch in which the Terps won 10 of their last 12 games. Maryland's only losses from that point were to Duke - in the ACC Tournament and in the NCAA Final Four.
* Wednesday's game marks the fourth straight battle between the Terps and Demon Deacs in which both schools are in the top 25. Last year's meetings: No. 12 vs. No. 10, No. 17 vs. No. 23, No. 11 vs. No. 22.
* Maryland beat Wake Forest all three times that they met last season, and can match the longest win streak ever against the Demon Deacs with a win on Wednesday (6, 1984-86). The Terps' 81-71 win at Cole was its first win over a ranked opponent last season. Maryland won 73-57 at Wake, and later 71-53 in the ACC Tournament's first round. The Terrapins have won five straight games in the series, last losing to the Demon Deacs on Jan. 31, 1999 - 85-72 in Winston-Salem, while the Terps were ranked No. 4 in the country. [The Super Bowl Sunday loss in '99 was the last time Maryland faced Wake Forest while ranked in the top 5.]
* Maryland remained in the top five in both major polls this week, for the ninth week this season. Maryland opened the year at No. 2 by the AP, and has spent a total of four weeks at No. 2 this season.
* Maryland has won 14 of its last 16 games, and 24 of its past 29 games dating to last year's Final Four campaign. Maryland's five losses in the stretch have come to Arizona, Duke (3) and Oklahoma.
* In their last outing, the Terps outlasted a scrappy Clemson club which buried a Tiger record 15 3-pointers and which led 83-82 with 4:41 to play. Fittingly, it was a Juan Dixon 3-pointer which gave Maryland the lead for good at 85-83, on the way to a 99-90 victory at Cole Field House on Sunday. Dixon, who hit four 3-pointers as part of a 23-point performance, became the school's all-time leader in 3-point field goals (now 189) while passing former leader Johnny Rhodes (186) during the first half. Lonny Baxter added 21 points for Maryland, while Chris Wilcox posted his third double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
TERP STREAKS
* Maryland has won six of its last seven games, and 14 of its last 16 - losing only road games to top-ranked Duke and No. 5 Oklahoma during the stretch.
* The Terrapins have won eight of their last nine ACC regular season games dating to last season. Maryland also has won four straight ACC home games.
* The Terps own a 12-game home win streak dating to last season, including nine home wins to begin 2001-02. Maryland's nine straight home wins represent the Terps' longest season-opening home streak going undefeated (16-0) at Cole in 1994-95.
* Maryland has played 125 consecutive home games at Cole Field House since suffering consecutive home defeats. The last time Maryland lost back-to-back home dates was during the 1992-93 season.
* Maryland owns the nation's longest non-conference homecourt win streak which spans 84 games and over 12 years. The streak began on Dec. 30, 1989 against Alcorn State. The Terps' last non-league home defeat was on Dec. 12, 1989 vs. Coppin State. The streak will continue at the Comcast Center in 2002-03.
ON DECK
* The Terrapins return to Cole Field House to host Florida State on Saturday, Jan. 26 (4 p.m., RJ), before closing out the first half of the ACC round-robin schedule at Virginia on Thursday, Jan. 31 (7 p.m., ESPN).
* Maryland opens the second trip through the ACC with a Feb. 3 date with NC State on Super Bowl Sunday (4 p.m., FOX Sports Net). Note the time change for this game (originally 6:30), due to the change in Super Bowl dates.
