Terrapins Host North Carolina Tonight At Cole Field House
1/8/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2002
Maryland vs. North Carolina Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland (No. 4 AP, No. 4 USA Today/ESPN) resumes its ACC schedule by hosting North Carolina in what is the Tar Heels' final visit to Cole Field House. Tipoff on Wednesday, Jan. 9 is 7:30 p.m. The game will be seen before a naitonal viewing audience on ESPN2.
* Maryland returned to the top five in both major polls this week, for the seventh 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.
* Senior center Lonny Baxter is expected to return to the lineup against North Carolina on Wednesday. Baxter missed the Norfolk State game last Thursday with a sprained right ankle suffered on New Year's Day. He returned to practice last weekend. He needs just four points to become the 14th player in Maryland history to reach the 1,500-point scoring plateau.
* North Carolina defeated the Terrapins in both meetings last season - ending a 10-game Maryland win streak with an 86-83 decision on Jan. 10 at Cole, and defending the Tar Heels' No. 1 ranking with a 96-82 win in Chapel Hill a month later. The Heels have won two straight in the series and four of the last five, though Maryland has won three of the last four meetings in College Park.
* Maryland and Gary Williams have ended a 12-year run in which the Terps closed their Cole Field House non-conference schedule with 84 consecutive non-conference victories. It is the longest non-conference home court win streak in the country, and will carry over to the Terps' new Comcast Center in 2002-03. Overall, Williams is 87-1 in non-conference games at Cole since taking over the program in 1989-90. The Terps' only non-conference loss at Cole during Williams' entire tenure was a defeat at the hands of Coppin State on Dec. 12, 1989.
* Maryland is 7-0 at home this season, the Terps' longest season-opening home streak since winning eight to begin the 1999-00 campaign. A win over UNC would match the Terps' longest home streak to begin a season since going undefeated (16-0) at home in 1994-95.
* Maryland has won 11 of 13 games this season, and 21 of its past 25 games dating to last year's Final Four campaign.
* In their last outing, the Terps defeated Norfolk State while playing without the services of senior center Lonny Baxter. Baxter missed the game with a sprained right ankle, but the trio of Chris Wilcox, Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle combined for 37 points, 18 rebounds and 12 blocks in the win. The Terps' 15 blocks was the most by a Maryland team since 1988, and was the fourth-largest total in school history. Maryland led 45-28 at the intermission and coasted to the 23-point victory with 52 percent shooting and 26 assists. Juan Dixon led five double-figure scorers with 17 points. Holden had 16, Randle had 12, and Andre Collins and Drew Nicholas each came off the bench to contribute 10.
TERP STREAKS
* Maryland has won 11 of its last 12 games.
* The Terps own a 10-game home win streak dating to last season, including a 7-0 home start in 2001-02.
* The Terrapins own a five-game ACC regular season win streak dating to last season.
* Counting the final month of the 2001 season when the Terps played five NCAA Tournament games and won 10 of their last 12, Maryland has won 21 of its last 25 games. Its only losses have come to Duke, Arizona and Oklahoma.
* 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.
* Maryland has played 123 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.
RECORDS AND RANKINGS
* Maryland is 11-2 overall and 1-0 in the ACC after last Thursday's 92-69 win over Norfolk State. The Terps won their ACC opener with a 72-65 win at NC State.
* Norfth Carolina is 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the ACC following its 84-62 loss to Wake Forest last Saturday.
* Maryland is No. 4 by the Associated Press and No. 4 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. Other Maryland opponents in this week's rankings: Duke (2,1), Virginia (7, 5), Illinois (9, 10), Oklahoma (5, 7), Arizona (20, 21), Wake Forest (19, 19). Connecticut and NC State each received votes in both polls. Florida State and George Washington received votes in the AP poll. Temple received votes in the coaches poll.
ON DECK
* Maryland embarks on its only back-to-back road games during its ACC conference schedule. Maryland is at Georgia Tech on Saturday, Jan. 13 (2 p.m., ESPN), and at Duke on Thursday, Jan. 17 (9 p.m., ESPN).
* The Terrapins return to Cole Field House to host Clemson on Sunday, Jan. 20 (6:30 p.m., FOX Sports Net).
