April 1, 2002

By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA - For all the talk about being a favorite, Maryland still has the feel of an outsider.

The Terrapins have never won an NCAA basketball championship. In fact, this is their first appearance in the title game.

"We're trying to establish ourselves," coach Gary Williams said. "Our program probably hasn't been as smooth as a lot of those other programs."

He was referring to a program such as Indiana, which already has five championship banners hanging back in Bloomington.

Still, for all the talk about their rich tradition, the Hoosiers seem a bit out of place, having reached the final game of the season Monday night as one of the biggest surprises of any NCAA tournament.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would actually be here," senior Dane Fife said. "I always pictured in my mind that, sure, we could be here, but then there's reality."

The Terrapins (31-4) have been primed for this moment ever since they squandered a 22-point lead to Duke in last year's national semifinals, ruining their first appearance in the Final Four.

"I knew we weren't satisfied with what happened," Williams said. "These guys never wavered. You could tell the first day of practice the intent of this team."

Maryland won its first regular-season title in the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1980 and earned its first No. 1 seed ever. In Saturday's semifinals, the Terps built a 20-point lead over Kansas, another top seed, and held on for a 97-88 victory.

"We've been a top seed basically all season long," star Juan Dixon said. "We stayed strong all season long to get to this point."

Indiana (25-11) certainly has a more impressive pedigree. The Hoosiers are playing in the championship game for the sixth time, and they've never lost after getting this far.

Then again, this team didn't exactly have a smooth trip to the Georgia Dome.

Indiana started the season 7-5, including losses to Southern Illinois and Butler. At that point, the shadow of Bobby Knight loomed large over the program.

"People got down on us and really didn't look at the schedule," said coach Mike Davis, noting that all five losses came against 20-win teams. "When we lost to Butler, I told our guys we were on our way to having a good season."

The Hoosiers turned things around with a 7-1 start in the Big Ten. They went on to claim a share of their 20th conference title, but that didn't foreshadow a long run in the NCAA tournament.

Indiana, the No. 5 seed in the South Regional, wasn't expected to make it past the first weekend, let alone knock off top-seeded Duke.

"It's not like you're playing a seven-game series," Davis said. "The teams that we've played so far, we've been better than they were in one game."

The Hoosiers aren't about to start doubting themselves now, even though Maryland was an eight-point favorite.

"We don't consider ourselves underdogs, though everyone else does," Fife said. "We believe we can win this basketball game, just like we have all season."

Indiana's storied history includes national championships in 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987.

The last three were under Knight, fired by Indiana in September 2000. Davis, an assistant to the General, stepped into what many people considered an impossible situation.

Instead, he survived the turmoil and thoughts of quitting to put his own stamp on the program. During the tournament, his news conferences have been filled with laughs and feel-good stories. Knight was noted for obscene rants, tongue-lashings and once, even a bullwhip.

"I'm just a basketball coach," Davis said, hardly sounding like Knight. "If you don't know who you are, it's easy to get caught up it."

Indiana is a slower team that thrives in the halfcourt and averages 71 points. Maryland loves the transition game, lives off big runs and is among the nation's top scoring teams at 85 points a game.

The Hoosiers beat Oklahoma 73-64 in the semifinals, coming up with a great offensive effort against a stellar defensive team. They were 8-for-13 from 3-point range, a good showing but nowhere near the 15-for-19 performance in the regional final victory over Kent State.

To win the last game, the Hoosiers will need that long-range shooting and solid inside play from Jared Jeffries and Jarrad Odle to offset the formidable Maryland front line of Lonny Baxter, Chris Wilcox and Byron Mouton.

"They don't bang like we do," Baxter said.

The Hoosiers also will have to stop Dixon, an All-American who added to his tournament run with 33 points against Kansas.

"He wants to win the championship in the worst way, and you can tell," Davis said. "He's going to put Maryland on his back and try to do that."

Hoosiers point guard Tom Coverdale played 29 minutes against Oklahoma, more than expected after he sprained his left ankle in the win over Kent State.

"It was pretty sore after the game," Coverdale said, "but I think it will be better Monday than it was Saturday."