March 29, 2002

By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer

ATLANTA -- The folks at the Georgia Dome might want to change the bulbs in the scoreboard before Kansas and Maryland play in the Final Four.

These teams can score. A lot.

Kansas leads the nation at 91 points a game. Maryland is a couple of spots behind at 85.3.

The similarities don't stop there.

They're both top seeds from their regions. Each won regular-season titles in two of the nation's top conferences. Both spent the entire season ranked in the Top 10. Each have an All-American.

But it's the way these teams can score that got them to the national semifinals Saturday night.

The record set in a 1965 semifinal, when UCLA beat Wichita State 108-89, might be safe, but this surely won't be like Michigan State's 53-41 win over Wisconsin in 2000. That could be gone by halftime.

The Jayhawks (33-3) got to their first Final Four since 1993 with a 104-86 victory over Oregon. It was the second-most points scored in this year's tournament, but Kansas topped that total seven times this season.

The Jayhawks use size and speed to pour in the points, strengths the Terrapins surely know about.

"I think if they watched the Oregon game, they kind of found that out," Kansas All-American forward Drew Gooden said Friday. "That was a track meet. That was an up-and-down game. We could run with the best of them."

The Terrapins (30-4) are more than ready for the challenge.

"We don't mind getting in a track meet," Maryland All-American guard Juan Dixon said. "We like to run. That's part of our game."

Despite all the similarities, there are also big differences between these teams.

Kansas plays three guards, and its big men - 6-foot-10 Gooden and 6-9 Nick Collison - are extremely mobile and fill the lanes on the break.

Maryland has a more traditional lineup with two guards, two forwards and a post player, although Dixon thinks center Lonny Baxter can handle himself in the open court.

"We're a very fortunate team because we can inside-out," said Dixon, averaging 26 points in the four NCAA tournament games. "Our game plan is by starting the ball inside to Lonny and Chris Wilcox and work our way out. We don't mind running the transition. Lonny is 6-8, 265 pounds, and he might be one of the most agile players on our team. He gets up and down the court just like a guard would. Chris does the same."

Kansas coach Roy Williams said Gooden and Collison made it easy to turn the Jayhawks into a running team.

"We looked at those two guys and felt they would be able to at least run as well as most of the other teams' big men. In fact, they would be able to run better than a lot of them," Williams said.

Gooden and Collison aren't just speedsters. The Jayhawks are outrebounding their opponents by almost 14 a game, with Gooden averaging 13.0 and Collison 11.5. Kansas outrebounded Oregon 63-34.

"We played a very good rebounding team in Connecticut in our last game," Maryland coach Gary Williams said, referring to the 90-82 regional final victory. "Now we play probably what I see is the best rebounding team so far, especially on the offensive glass. We're aware of that and it is a hard thing for our players to understand how hard they have to rebound."

Baxter has averaged 7.5 rebounds in the tournament, while forwards Byron Mouton is at 5.0 and Wilcox 4.3.

There is one more difference between the teams. Maryland was in the Final Four last season, although the Terrapins blew a 22-point lead in losing to Duke.

"I don't think I'm still over that game last year," Baxter said. "That's why we were determined to get back to this point this year. We're just looking forward to winning the national championship."

Gooden called Maryland's Final Four experience from last year "a huge advantage."

"They've been in this atmosphere before," he said. "I think they're hungry and they've got their eye on the prize. But we have a team that's determined, too. I think that's what makes this a good game."