Terps Begin Stretch Drive For ACC Regular-Season Title
2/20/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Maryland finally exorcized its demons with a clutch victory against Duke. Now it will begin its stretch run in a bid to end the Blue Devils five-year reign in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Going into their game at Clemson on Wednesday, the second-ranked Terrapins (21-3, 11-1) have a one-half game ACC lead over the third-ranked Blue Devils on the strength of their 87-73 victory on Sunday.
In the home game at Cole Field House, Chris Wilcox scored a career-high 23 points for Maryland, which also gained the inside track for a No. 1 seed in the East Region for the upcoming NCAA tournament.
Should Maryland win its final four games, it would claim its first ACC regular-season title since earning a share in 1995. The Terps play home games against No. 20 Wake Forest and No. 22 Virginia and they have a road contest at Florida State.
"It's great, but you play for the season not for one game," Terps coach Gary Williams said of the win vs. the Blue Devils. "We proved today that we can beat Duke, but other than that, we haven't won anything by what happened today. We still have to focus. It will be hard going into Clemson Wednesday night."
Wilcox also pulled down 11 rebounds and was named ACC player of the week for his effort. The sophomore forward is averaging 11.5 points and 7.8 rebounds this season while shooting 48.9 percent from the field.
Clemson (12-14, 3-10) is tied with North Carolina for last place in the ACC, but it is only one-half game behind Florida State and Georgia Tech for sixth. The Tigers have lost nine of their last 10 games overall.
They were pounded 83-54 at North Carolina State on Saturday.
Chris Hobbs scored 13 points for the Tigers, who shot 38 percent one game after lighting up Wake Forest for 118 points in a double-overtime victory. The loss to N.C. State marked the ninth time this season that Clemson has allowed 80 or more points in a conference game.
"Maybe if we played into the wee hours we would have gotten hot," Tigers coach Larry Shyatt said. "We didn't even get warm."
The Tigers backcourt duo of Tony Stockman and Edward Scott disappeared Saturday, combining for just 12 points on 5-for-21 shooting. Both players had 30 points apiece in the win over the Demon Deacons last week.
Maryland struggled to a 99-90 victory over Clemson on Jan. 20 behind 23 points from Juan Dixon and 21 from Lonny Baxter.
The Terps lead the all-time series 79-42 and they are going for their ninth straight win and fourth consecutive season sweep.
