Feb. 23, 2002
Maryland vs. Wake Forest Game Notes in PDF Format
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Thunder & Lightning All-America Update in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland (No. 2 AP, No. 2 USA Today/ESPN) hosts Wake Forest (No. 20 AP, No. 21 USA Today/ESPN) on Sunday afternoon in the next-to-last game ever to be played at Cole Field House. Tipoff on Sunday afternoon is 2 p.m., with a split telecast on Raycom-Jefferson Pilot Sports regionally, and ESPN nationally.
* Maryland is 22-3 overall and 12-1 in the ACC after nine consecutive wins including an 84-68 win at Clemson on Wednesday. The Terrapins got 21 points from senior Juan Dixon and 10 points and 12 rebounds from senior teammate Lonny Baxter.
* Wake Forest is 18-9 overall and 8-5 in the ACC, following a 90-61 loss to Duke on Thursday.
TERP NOTES & STORYLINES
* Terrapin teams of 1975 and 2002 are the only squads in school history ever to start a season 22-3. No Maryland team has ever been 23-3.
* A Maryland victory keeps the Terrapins in sole possession of first place in the ACC with two games to play in the regular season. Maryland has never been 12-1 in the ACC.
* Maryland is bidding for its first outright ACC regular season title since 1980 (11-3) and just the third in school history. Maryland's only other regular season crown was in 1975 (10-2). The Terps split a four-way tie with a 12-4 ACC record in 1995.
* The Terps are bidding to remain undefeated at home during their final season at Cole Field House, winning each of 14 games so far this season. The last time a Maryland team was undefeated at home was in 1994-95 (16-0).
* The Terps own a 17-game home win streak dating to last season, the longest overall homecourt streak since a 21-game streak between the 1993-94 (1), '94-95 (16) and '95-96 (4) seasons.
* Maryland seeks its 10th straight ACC win on Sunday, to establish a new school record for most consecutive ACC wins in one season (previous record of nine, set in 2000). Maryland's record for consecutive ACC victories overall - begun on Feb. 2, 1974 and ended on Jan. 22, 1975 - is 11. Maryland can potentially tie that mark on Feb. 27 at Florida State, and break it in the final regular season game of the year vs. Virginia.
* The Terrapins have won 16 of their last 17 ACC regular season games dating to last season.
* Maryland has won 10 straight games, 14 of 15, 22 of its last 24, and 32 of its past 37. Maryland's five losses in the stretch have come to Arizona, Duke (3) and Oklahoma - all on the road.
* Maryland's senior class is presently 100-30 over the last four seasons, marking the most wins by any class in school history. Juan Dixon has played in all 100 victories, breaking the individual mark set last season by departed senior Mike Mardesich. Maryland also has set new standards for most wins in a four-year period (100) and a five-year stretch (121).
* Juan Dixon scored 21 points last Wednesday to become the first player in NCAA history to reach plateaus for 2,000 points (1,213), 300 steals (315) and 200 3-point field goals (208).
* Dixon needs 137 points to break the Maryland career scoring mark (Len Bias, 2,149, 1983-86). Dixon needs two points to catch John Lucas (2,015) in fourth place on the Terps' career scoring ladder, four points to catch Adrian Branch (2,017) in third place, and 43 points to catch Albert King in second.
* Steve Blake became Maryland's career assist leader during Wednesday's game at Clemson. Just a junior, his 13 assists against Duke and nine at Clemson tol shatter the previous mark held by Keith Gatlin (1984-88) at 649. Blake now has 658.
* Maryland is 6-1 in ACC road games this season, with a final road bout scheduled at Florida State next Wednesday. Maryland's best road mark in ACC history was 6-2 in 1999.
* Maryland remained in the top five in both major polls this week, for the 12th week this season. Maryland opened the year at No. 2 by the AP, and has spent a total of five weeks at No. 2 this season. The Terps returned to the No. 2 spot in both polls this week, for the first time since the week of Dec. 17.
* Senior honors candidates Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon have each been named finalists for the John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award, the James Naismith Player of the Year Award, and the nation's Senior CLASS Award which is presented to the country's top senior.
* Maryland has played 129 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.
* 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.
ON DECK
* The Terrapins close the regular seasonat Florida State on Wednesday, Feb. 27 (9 p.m., RJ), and at home against Virginia on Sunday, March 3 (8 p.m., FOX Sports Net).
* The ACC Tournament takes place at Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, N.C.) in two weeks. The #8 vs. #9 play-in game takes place on Thursday, March 7. The Terps are guaranteed to begin play on Friday, March 8. The championship game is slated for Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m. All games are televised live by ESPN, ESPN2 and/or Raycom-Jefferson Pilot.
CONSISTENCY & EXCELLENCE
* Maryland is the only school in the nation that has achieved each of the following:
- Appeared in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments (Arizona, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Temple and UCLA).
- Advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at least five times during that eight-year span since 1994 (Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland).
- Won at least 25 games over each of the past three seasons (Duke, Maryland, Michigan State, Stanford, Cincinnati, Gonzaga).
