Nov 30, 2002
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By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Playing with four new starters and a bench filled with freshmen, Maryland opened the season striving to improve with every game.
So far, the Terrapins have done just that. After beating Miami of Ohio by 15 points and The Citadel by 48, the defending national champions improved to 3-0 by cruising to an 89-39 rout of Duquesne on Saturday night.
The question now is: Are the 11th-ranked Terrapins good enough to beat Indiana on the road in a rematch of last season's NCAA title game?
"I don't know. We'll find out Tuesday night," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "But I like where we are."
Drew Nicholas scored 19 points and Ryan Randle added a career-high 16 as Maryland extended its nonconference home winning streak to 87 games by blowing out Duquesne.
The competition will be much more difficult when the Terrapins take on the Hoosiers in Indianapolis as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, but Maryland seems up for the task.
"I think we are, especially after our performance the last two games," Nicholas said. "This is the way we're supposed to play going into games with teams like Indiana. This is our first real big test; all of our focus is now geared toward Indiana."
The Hoosiers should offer far more resistance than error-prone Duquesne, which had more turnovers (20) than points (19) in the first half.
"We just weren't ready to play," center Ron Dokes said. "Some of the guys were, but we just weren't ready to step up to their level."
No Duquesne player scored more than seven points. The Dukes (1-3) finished with 35 turnovers, including nine by reserve guard Bryant McAllister.
The Terrapins, who allowed 49 points in each of their first two games, last held three straight opponents under 50 points in February 1954.
"We made some bad decisions," Duquesne coach Danny Nee said. "I would think that Maryland's defense caused it, but we're bad, not good. Certainly their pressure, their quickness, their hustle was a very important part of that."
Nicholas scored all his points before halftime, helping Maryland build a 50-19 lead. Several of his baskets came off passes from Steve Blake, who had 10 of his 13 assists in the first half.
The Terrapins' nonconference winning streak at home, which began in 1989 and includes two victories over Duquesne, is the longest such run in the nation.
Maryland made seven of its first nine shots, getting seven points from Nicholas and six from Randle in racing to a 19-3 lead. The Dukes went 1-for-4 from the field, missed two of three free throws and committed six turnovers during that span.
By the midpoint of the first half, seven players had scored for the Terrapins, who got six points from freshman Chris McCray in a 10-0 run that made it 30-9.
"It's good to see the young guys blending with the older players," Williams said.
A dunk by Randle sparked a spurt of eight straight points that put Maryland up 40-14.
Duquesne missed 19 of 27 field-goal attempts in the first half and went 2-for-7 at the line. Eight of the nine Dukes who played had at least one turnover.
Randle scored six points in a 12-0 run that put Maryland up 67-28 midway through the second half.
