ACC-Leading Maryland Travels To Florida State On Wednesday
2/25/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2002
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland (No. 2 AP, No. 2 USA Today/ESPN) travels to Florida State on Wednesday with just two games remaining in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season. Tipoff between the Terps and Seminoles is 9 p.m., in a game televised regionally by Raycom-Jefferson Pilot Sports.
* Maryland is 23-3 overall and 13-1 in the ACC after 10 consecutive wins including a 90-89 nailbiting victory over Wake Forest on Sunday. On a day which began with ceremonies to honor the jerseys of seniors Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon, it was Baxter and Dixon who keyed the last-second win. Baxter scored 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting, with eight rebounds and three blocks. Dixon, meanwhile, added 20 points and hit the game's winning free throw with 0:01 remaining in regulation.
* Florida State is 11-14 overall and 4-10 in the ACC following an 87-78 loss at Clemson last Saturday. The Seminoles have lost seven of their last eight games.
* Maryland has won 11 of the last 12 meetings against FSU, including four straight victories in Tallahassee.
TERP NOTES & STORYLINES
* The 2002 Terrapins are the first team in school history to begin a season 23-3.
* Maryland is one of just six schools to win 25 games during each of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons. The Terrapins are two wins shy of reaching 25 wins in a fourth straight season. Maryland has never won 25 games in four consecutive years.
* A Maryland victory assures the Terrapins at least a tie for the ACC regular season championship, with one league game to play. Maryland's 13-1 league mark is already its best start in league history and matches the most ACC wins by a Maryland team (13-3 in 1999).
* 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.
* Maryland is 6-1 in ACC road games this season, with its final road bout scheduled at Florida State. Maryland's best road mark in ACC history was 6-2 in 1999.
* Maryland has won 10 straight ACC games this season to set a new season mark for consecutive ACC wins. Maryland's record for consecutive ACC victories overall - begun on Feb. 2, 1974 and ended on Jan. 22, 1975 - is 11. Maryland can tie that mark at Florida State, and potentially break it in the regular season finale vs. Virginia.
* The Terrapins have won 17 of their last 18 ACC regular season games dating to last season.
* Maryland has won 10 straight games, 15 of 16, 23 of its last 25, and 33 of its past 38. 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 101-30 over the last four seasons, marking the most wins by any class in school history. Juan Dixon has played in all 101 victories, breaking the individual mark set last season by departed senior Mike Mardesich, Lonny Baxter has appeared in 98 of those wins. Maryland also has set new standards for most wins in a four-year period (101) and a five-year stretch (122).
* Juan Dixon scored 21 points at Clemson to become the first player in NCAA history to reach plateaus for 2,000 points (currently 2,033), 300 steals (316) and 200 3-point field goals (210).
* Dixon needs 117 points to break the Maryland career scoring mark (Len Bias, 2,149). Dixon needs 26 points to catch Albert King (2,058) in second place.
* Maryland remained in the top five in both major polls this week, for the 13th week this season. Maryland opened the year at No. 2 by the AP, and has spent a total of six weeks at No. 2 this season in either poll. The Terps returned to the No. 2 spot in both polls last 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.
* 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.
* 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).
* Maryland has played 130 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 season 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.), March 7-10. The Terps are guaranteed to begin play on Friday, March 8 as either the #1 seed (Noon, RJ/ESPN) or #2 seed (7 p.m., RJ/ESPN2. The championship game is slated for Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m. (RJ/ESPN). 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).
