Terrapins Venture To Second Consecutive Final Four
3/26/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 26, 2002
Maryland vs. Kansas Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland (No. 4 AP, No. 4 USA Today/ESPN) continues play in its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament under head coach Gary Williams when the Terrapins battle Kansas (No. 2 AP, No. 2 USA Today/ESPN) in the 2002 NCAA national semifinals. Maryland, the #1 seed from the East Region, meets the Jayhawks, the #1 seed from the Midwest, on Saturday evening in game two of the NCAA Final Four.
* Maryland is 30-4 and has won 17 of its last 18 games, including NCAA Tournament victories over Siena (85-70), Wisconsin (87-57), Kentucky (78-68) and Connecticut (90-82).
* Kansas is 33-3 and has won 20 of its past 21 games, including NCAA Tournament wins over Holy Cross (70-59), Stanford (86-63), Illinois (73-69) and Oregon (104-86).
* Both teams ended long win streaks in their respective conference tournaments, and haven't lost since. Maryland ended a 13-game win streak by losing to NC State in the ACC semifinals. Kansas, meanwhile, ended a 16-game tear by losing to Oklahoma in the Big XII championship game.
* Final Four schedule - Saturday, March 30: Indiana (South #5) vs. Oklahoma (West #2), 6:07 p.m. ET, Maryland (East #1) vs. Kansas (Midwest #1), 40 minutes following. Monday, April 1: National Championship Game, 9:18 p.m. ET.
TERP NOTES & STORYLINES
* Maryland has advanced to the second Final Four in school history, and its second in as many seasons. The Terrapins are the only returning team from the 2001 Final Four which saw Maryland fall to Duke in the national semifinals, 95-84.
* Maryland is the lone remaining team still active from last season's Final Four (Arizona, Duke, Michigan State).
* Since 1990, Maryland is the eighth team to return to the Final Four in consecutive seasons.
* The Terps' return to the Final Four follows the school's first trip to the Elite Eight in consecutive seasons and its fourth overall (1973, 1975, 2001). Maryland has advanced to at least the Sweet Sixteen in four of the past five seasons, and in six of nine years since 1994.
* The Terps' 30 victories have broken the Maryland record for wins in a season (28-6 in 1999). The 2002 Terrapins are the 15th team in ACC history to win 30 games.
* Maryland has won 17 of its last 18 games and 22 of its last 24.
* A No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, Maryland is 4-1 against teams in the AP top 10 this season.
* Maryland and Oklahoma are the only teams in the field of 65 to claim wins this season over teams which were ranked both No. 1 and No. 2.
* The Terrapins are the only team in the tournament that has NOT lost a game to a team that is currently unranked.
* The top seed from the East Region, Maryland was the regular season champion in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 15-1 league mark - just the fourth team in ACC history to win 15 league games. Maryland's ACC record and its 25-3 regular season record both were the best in school history.
* The last time that Maryland appeared in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament was in 1980. Its only other East Region appearances were in 1958 and 1973, both prior to the expansion of the bracket to 64/65 teams. Maryland has gone 22 years and 14 NCAA Tournaments since it last played in the East Region.
* All-America guard Juan Dixon became the Terps' all-time scoring champ during Maryland's second-round win. He has scored 104 points (26.0) in four NCAA Tournament games while combining to shoot 36-of-69. He is 15-of-28 from 3-point range. In four NCAA games, he has scored 29, 29, 19 and 27 points.
* The ACC Coach of the Year, Gary Williams is Maryland's winningest coach in NCAA Tournament history, boasting a 17-8 record in nine appearances. He is 21-11 in the NCAA Tournament overall and is the eighth-winningest active coach in tournament history.
* Maryland's No. 4 ranking in both major polls matches the highest that Maryland has ever been ranked during the NCAA Tournament. In 1975, the Terrapins were also No. 4 and advanced to the Elite Eight.
* Maryland's senior class is presently 108-31 over the last four seasons, marking the most wins by any class in school history. Juan Dixon has played in all 108 victories, and Lonny Baxter in 105. Maryland has set new standards for most wins in a four-year period (108) and a five-year stretch (129).
* Maryland's experience is exhibited by three senior co-captains (Lonny Baxter, Juan Dixon, Byron Mouton), a pair of two-time All-Region performers (Baxter, Dixon), and a junior point guard who already has started three straight seasons and is poised to stamp his name deep in the NCAA record book (Steve Blake).
* Lonny Baxter was named the MVP of the East Region tournament last week, one season after earning the Terps' first-ever regional MVP honor at the 2001 West Regional. Juan Dixon has been an all-tournament selection at both regionals.
* Juan Dixon became the Terps' career scoring leader (currently 2,218 points) during a second-round over Wisconsin. He leads all active career scoring leaders in this season's NCAA Tournament. He has scored in double figures in 52 consecutive games, also the longest among NCAA Tournament participants.
* Point guard Steve Blake boasts 737 career assists as just a junior - the most of any player in this season's NCAA Tournament. Already Maryland's career leader, he is on pace to become just the fourth player in NCAA history with 1,000 in his career. He averages 7.02 per game for his career and 8.0 this season.
* Blake broke his own school record for single-season assists during an NCAA first round game vs. Siena. Blake now holds the top two marks in Maryland history (272 in 2002, 248 in 2001).
* No Final Four team has ever finished the NCAA Tournament with a tourney free throw percentage above 84.4 percent. Maryland enters the Final Four at 85.7.
CONSISTENCY & EXCELLENCE
* Maryland makes a repeat appearance at the NCAA Final Four this weekend 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).
