Terps Wrap Up Comcast-Opening Homestand with Duquesne

Nov. 29, 2002

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball team (No. 11 AP, No. 11 USA Today/ESPN) concludes the three-game homestand that opened Comcast Center and the 2002-03 season when Duquesne (1-2) visits College Park on Saturday. The Terps (2-0) meet the Dukes at 8 p.m. in a game that will be aired live regionally on Raycom-Jefferson Pilot Sports, on WDCA (Ch. 20 in Washington, D.C.) and WNUV (Ch. 54 in the Baltimore area).

The Terrapins head into the game against the Dukes having extended their national-leading non-conference home court win streak to 86 games. Maryland posted a 97-49 victory over The Citadel on Wednesday, once again being led by the hot hand of sharpshooting senior Drew Nicholas. Nicholas was a career-high 5-for-7 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points. Meanwhile, All-America candidate Steve Blake put together an all-around solid performance with 13 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds. Freshmen Nik Caner-Medley and John Gilchrist were also impressive, totaling 12 and 10 points, respectively, while neither played more than 20 minutes.

Duquesne comes to town with a 1-2 record after falling at home to Cleveland State, 74-67, on Wednesday. The Dukes had beaten West Virginia at home after a season-opening loss to crosstown-rival Pittsburgh. Four Dukes average more than 10 points per game, led by junior forward Ron Dokes. Junior Jimmy Tricco paced the squad in its loss to Cleveland State with 17 points and six rebounds.

The Dukes are looking for their first win in eight tries when they take on the Terps in Saturday's match-up. Maryland posted its seventh win of the series, 81-47, in 1998. Each of the other meetings took place between 1972 and 1983.

Terp Streaks & Storylines

Saturday's game marks the third men's basketball contest to be played in Maryland's $125 million state-of-the-art Comcast Center. Terrapin basketball is still the hottest ticket in town, as Wednesday's game against The Citadel drew 17,503 despite the fact that many Maryland students had left campus for Thanksgiving break. Last Sunday's opening game at the new arena attracted a sell out crowd of 17,950.

Maryland began its 80th consecutive basketball season against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 24, and the Terps now own a 2-0 record in their new venue. Comcast Center is historically the fourth home of Terrapin basketball, following: The Gymnasium (1923-24 to 1930-31); Ritchie Coliseum (1931-32 to 1954-55); and Cole Field House (1955-56 to 2001-02).

Following the Terps' victory in their home opener last Sunday, Maryland moved to No. 11 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls. The Terps were ranked No. 13/15 according to the preseason votes, and moved to No. 12 in last week's AP poll.

Maryland is currently riding an eight-game win streak first established during last season's NCAA Tournament run. Overall, the Terps have been winners of 21 of their last 22, and 26 of their last 28.

The Terps own an 20-game home win streak dating to their last loss on Feb. 14, 2001 - 74-71 to Florida State. It is the team's longest overall homecourt streak since a 21-game streak between the 1993-94 (1), '94-95 (16) and '95-96 (4) seasons. Maryland's longest home win streak of all-time is 24 games set between the 1979-08 and 1980-81 seasons.

Maryland has played 133 consecutive home games 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 86 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 began at Cole Field House and continues at Comcast Center in 2002-03.

Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Saturday's game with 764 assists, 236 from becoming the fourth Division I player in history to reach 1,000 assists. The only others are all former ACC players - Bobby Hurley (1,076), Chris Corchiani (1,038) and Ed Cota (1,030). Blake is the nation's active leader in career assists, averaging 7.06 per game.

Blake needs 36 assists to become the 23rd player in NCAA history with 800.

Blake led the ACC in assists as a sophomore (6.9) and a junior (7.9), and ranked second in the country last season while guiding Maryland to the NCAA title.

Midway through the first half on Wednesday, the Terrapins' "next" generation all hit the floor at the same time. Junior Jamar Smith was joined by the four freshmen: Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, John Gilchrist and Chris McCray. It was the first time all season that the five newcomers were in the line-up together.

On Deck

Maryland's game on Saturday is the last of three straight home games to open Comcast Center during the first week of the regular season.

The Terps make their first road trip of the season to battle Indiana in a rematch of last spring's national championship game. At Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the Terps and Hoosiers will grapple in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 3 (9:00 p.m., ESPN).

The Terps play six games during their first two weeks of the season, including their annual participation in the BB&T Classic at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7 & 8. Co-host George Washington battles Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m., followed by the Terps and Notre Dame at 3:30. Winners and losers meet during consolation and championship games on Sunday at 1 and 3:30 p.m. All games are televised live on Comcast SportsNet.

Consistency & Excellence

Maryland made a repeat appearance at the NCAA Final Four last season and is the ONLY school in the nation that has advanced to the Elite Eight in each of the past two seasons.

The Terps also are the ONLY school to have achieved ALL of the following: - Appeared in each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments from 1994 to 2002 (Arizona, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and UCLA). - Advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at least six times since 1994 (Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland). - Won at least 25 games over each of the past four seasons from 1999 to 2002 (Duke, Maryland, Cincinnati, Gonzaga).

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