Siena-Maryland Preview
3/13/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 13, 2002
GAME: No. 16 Siena (17-18) vs. No. 1 Maryland (29-4).
REGIONAL: East, First Round.
TIME: Friday, 10:10 p.m. EST.
SITE: MCI Center, Washington.
Maryland has a top seed and a short trip for its first-round game in its quest for a second straight Final Four appearance.
Now the Terrapins finally have an opponent in Siena, which will make the trek from Dayton, Ohio, to Washington for its first-round game.
The Terps were given a No. 1 seed despite a semifinal flameout against North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The selection committee felt Maryland's outright regular-season title by two games over fellow No. 1 seed Duke outweighed its 86-82 loss to the Wolfpack on Saturday.
"Its a great feeling," said senior guard Juan Dixon. "I thought we were deserving."
The accolades continued Tuesday for Dixon, who was named to the first-team All-America squad and selected ACC player of the year. The wiry 6-foot guard was second in the conference in scoring at 19.8 points per game and also led the ACC in free throw shooting and steals.
"As a coach, you take a great deal of pride in a player getting better. To me, the greatest satisfaction is not getting a great recruit, it's getting a guy who you know is a good player and becomes better as they get into your program," Terps coach Gary Williams said of Dixon. "I've always felt that that's what my mission is, and with Juan, I feel like I was a success in that. He's made it very easy for me."
Maryland, which reached the Final Four for the first time in school history and lost to eventual champion and conference rival Duke, has a seemingly endless list of offensive options. Dixon has 2,114 points, 35 shy of Len Bias' all-time mark of 2,149.
In addition, the Terps have a potent inside game in center Lonny Baxter and 6-foot-11 forward Chris Wilcox, who muscled his way into the starting lineup and has averaged 11.7 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Siena continued thriving on the thin line of elimination with its 81-77 victory over Alcorn State in the play-in game Tuesday. Prosper Karangwa scored a career-high 31 points for the Saints, picking up the slack for leading scorer Dwayne Archbold, who had just 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting.
"I went up to him and said, 'That's what I've been waiting for,"' Archbold said. "He can take it easy sometimes, but I knew he could play like this."
The Saints became the first team with a losing record to win an NCAA tournament game since Bradley won two in 1955. Now Siena will try to make history as the first 16 seed to ever defeat a No. 1 seed since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
"A week ago, we were left for dead," coach Rob Lanier said. "It's quite a contrast."
Siena does have a historical upset to draw upon for inspiration. In 1989, the Saints became just the fifth 14 seed to win a first-round game by upsetting No. 3 Stanford.
The winner of this game will play either No. 8 Wisconsin or No. 9 St. John's in the second round Sunday.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Siena - F Dwayne Archbold (19.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg), F James Clinton (6.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg), C Justin Miller (6.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg), G Andy Cavo (6.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg) G Karangwa (11.8 ppg, 3.1 apg). Maryland - F Chris Wilcox (11.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg), F Byron Mouton (12.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), C Lonny Baxter (15.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg), G Dixon (19.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg), G Steve Blake (8.3 ppg, 8.2 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Siena - Automatic bid, Metro Atlantic Athletic champion, defeated Alcorn State 81-77 in play-in game. Maryland - At-large bid, Atlantic Coast Conference.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Siena - 2-2, 3 years. Maryland - 26-18, 19 years.
