University of Maryland Athletics

Streaks On The Line As Terps Return Home to Face No. 14/17 Florida

Men's Basketball Maryland Athletics

Streaks On The Line As Terps Return Home to Face No. 14/17 Florida

Dec. 12, 2002

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball team (No. 18 AP, No. 16 USA Today/ESPN) returns to Comcast Center to put its national-leading non-conference home win streak on the line as No. 14/17 Florida comes to College Park. The Terrapins wrap up a tough early-season stretch before taking a break for exams in a nationally televised game on CBS. Tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 14, is scheduled for 2 p.m.

  • The Terrapins head into Saturday's game after a 93-82 victory over area rival George Washington in the consolation game of the eighth annual BB&T Classic at MCI Center. Keyed by senior guards Steve Blake and Drew Nicholas, who each netted 27 points, Maryland bounced back from a pair of away losses to what are now top 10 opponents -- No. 7 Indiana and No. 10 Notre Dame. Senior Tahj Holden posted his second straight game of double-figure scoring against the Colonials with 12 points, and rookie Travis Garrison added 10 points and led the Terps with six rebounds.
  • The Gators enter the matchup on a two-game win streak, having defeated South Florida, 68-52 on Dec. 8, and Florida State, 58-57 on Dec. 6. Freshman Matt Walsh and senior Matt Bonner lead Florida with 15.4 and 14.3 points per game respectively, and four Gators average double figures in points.
  • The Terrapins have only faced Florida once in Maryland's 84-year history on the hardwood -- in 1932. The Terps fell, 39-24, in the Southern Conference Tournament in Atlanta on Feb. 26 of that year.

    Terp Streaks & Storylines

  • The Terps own a 21-game home win streak dating to their last loss on Feb. 14, 2001 -- 74-71 to Florida State. The victories span three seasons -- 2000-01 (3), 2001-02 (15), 2002-03 (3). It matches 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 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
  • Maryland owns the nation's longest non-conference homecourt win streak which spans 87 games and almost 13 years. The streak began on Dec. 30, 1989 against Alcorn State. The Terps' last non-league home loss was on Dec. 12, 1989 vs. Coppin State. The streak began at Cole Field House and continues at Comcast Center with three non-conference home victories to date in 2002-03.
  • Maryland is ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, released Dec. 9. The Terrapins were No. 9/8 in the previous AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls from Dec. 2. The Terps have been ranked in the AP top 25 for 59 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN top 25 for 52 straight votes.
  • Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Saturday's game with 791 assists, placing him 24th on the NCAA all-time career assist chart. He is 209 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 7.00 per game.
  • 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.
  • True freshman Nik Caner-Medley drew the first two starts of his Terrapin career against Notre Dame and George Washington in the BB&T Classic. He totaled 13 points, nine rebounds, six steals and two assists across the two games. The last true freshman to play for the Terrapins in a starting role was Steve Blake, in the 1999-00 season.
  • An early trend in the young season, the Terrapins have held four of their first six opponents to less than 33% shooting from the field, including now-No. 7 Indiana.
  • The Terrapins are shooting .418 from 3-point range on the season, the best mark since finishing the 1987-88 season with a .430 percentage. Against George Washington, the Terps were 12-of-17 (.706) from beyond the arc, coming within one long range shot of tying their all-time record of 3-pointers in a game. Maryland made 13 3-pointers at home vs. William & Mary and North Carolina, both at home last season.
  • Maryland began its 80th consecutive basketball season against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 24, and the Terps own a 3-0 record in the $125 million, 17,950-seat Comcast Center. Comcast 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).
  • Maryland has played 134 consecutive home games since suffering consecutive home defeats. The last time Maryland lost back-to-back home dates was during the 1992-93 season.

    On Deck

  • Maryland has a nine-day break for final exams following its Saturday matchup with Florida.
  • The Terps' schedule resumes on Dec. 23 when local-rival UMBC visits Comcast Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be aired in the Baltimore/Washington area on Comcast SportsNet.
  • The Terrapins open conference play after the Christmas holiday with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Dec. 29. Maryland clashes with its first ACC rival on FOX Sports Net, for the first time this season, at 5:30 p.m.
  • Maryland's first opponent of the New Year will be the Wagner Seahawks of the Northeast Conference. The Terps meet Wagner in Comcast Center on Jan. 4 at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on the Raycom-Jefferson Pilot Network.

    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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