Jan. 17, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Terrapin basketball team (No. 17 AP, No. 15 USA Today/ESPN) renews what has become college basketball's fiercest rivalry as the No. 1/1 Duke University Blue Devils visit Maryland's Comcast Center for an ACC showdown. The 2002 national titleholders play host to the 2001 NCAA championship squad on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 1:30 p.m. in a live national telecast on ABC.
The Terrapins (9-4, 2-1 ACC) look to rebound after suffering their first conference loss on Wednesday night. Senior All-America candidate Steve Blake (15 points, 7 assists) helped the Terps bring a 17-point deficit to within two, but Wake Forest held on to secure an 81-72 victory. Fellow upperclassman Calvin McCall came off the bench to spark the Terps with 10 points and four rebounds, while Drew Nicholas contributed nine points and four boards as well. The Terrapins had run off a school-record 14-game ACC win streak prior to the loss.
The only undefeated squad in the country at 12-0 (3-0 ACC), the Blue Devils earned their third ACC victory at home vs. Virginia on Wednesday, 104-93. Freshman J.J. Redick scored a career-high 34 points and senior Dahntay Jones contributed 23 in the victory. Redick and Jones lead the Blue Devils with 17.0 and 16.7 points per game, respectively, while senior Chris Duhon leads the NCAA with an 8.2 assists per game average.
The Terrapins look to make it two straight victories over the Blue Devils on Saturday in the 151st meeting between the two squads. Maryland and Duke have met nine times since the 2000 season, and have split the regular season meetings across that stretch. The Terrapins took an 87-73 victory in College Park in their last meeting on Feb. 17, 2002. The Devils were ranked No. 1 at the time.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Maryland has beaten seven top-ranked teams all-time, including its 14-point win over then-No. 1 Duke on Feb. 17 of last season. Six of those victories have come in College Park, as Cole Field House was the site of every Terp win over No. 1 with the exception of a victory over North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Feb. 20, 1986 (77-72 OT).
The Terrapins are currently riding a 12-game ACC regular season win streak at home. Saturday's contest marks the third-ever ACC basketball game played at the Terps' state-of-the-art, $125 million Comcast Center. Maryland has not fallen to an ACC team in College Park since Feb. 14, 2001, when it fell to Florida State, 74-71. The Terps rebounded to win 10 of their next 11 games and reach the first Final Four in school history to finish that season.
Maryland head coach Gary Williams owns 490 career victories, and is now just 10 wins from 500. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams is sixth in conference history with 116 ACC wins.
Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Saturday's game with 845 career assists, placing him 18th on the NCAA all-time career assist chart.
Blake is 155 assists away from becoming the fourth Division I player in history to reach 1,000 assists. The only others are all former ACC players - Bobby Hurley (1,076), Chris Corchiani (1,038) and Ed Cota (1,030). Blake is the nation's active leader in career assists with 845, and averages 7.04 per game for his career.
Blake is 72 points shy of becoming Maryland's 40th 1,000-point career scorer. He would be Maryland's only 1,000 point/1,000 assist man in history should he reach both marks. His backcourt partner, Drew Nicholas, needs only 99 points for a career total of 1,000. He paces the Terps and is fourth in the ACC with a 17.8 scoring average, and averages 20.3 ppg in league games.
Blake led the ACC in assists as a sophomore (6.9) and junior (7.9), and ranked second in the country last season while keying Maryland to the NCAA title. His 7.23 assist per game average this season is currently second in the conference.
The Terrapins have outshot 11 of their first 13 opponents from the field, and have held six opponents to less than 33% shooting. As a team, Maryland is first in the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage defense and ranks first nationally at .355 (according to the Jan. 13 NCAA rankings).
As a team, the Terps also lead the ACC in assists (19.31 per game), blocked shots (7.77 per game), steals (11.46 per game), assist/turnover ratio (1.36), 3-point percentage defense (.266) and defensive rebounds (28.85 per game).
Maryland freshmen Nik Caner-Medley and Travis Garrison started together for the sixth straight game against Wake Forest, marking the first time since 1993-94 that a pair of true freshmen have started as many consecutive contests. That season, freshmen Keith Booth and Joe Smith were regulars in the starting lineup, each starting all 30 games en route to the Terps' 18-12 record and Sweet 16 appearance.
Maryland is ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, released Jan. 13. The Terrapins were No. 21/17 in the previous AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls from Jan. 6. The Terps have been ranked in the AP top 25 for 64 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN top 25 for 57 straight votes.
On Deck
Following the meeting with the Blue Devils, the Terps face their next two ACC opponents on the road - North Carolina on Jan. 22, and Clemson on Jan. 25. The Terps face the youth-laden Tar Heels in a 7 p.m. ESPN tilt next Wednesday, before trekking down to Clemson for a 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon matchup that will air on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot network.
The Terrapins return to Comcast Center for a Jan. 30 meeting with the NC State Wolfpack. The Thursday night game is scheduled for 9 p.m. and will be televised on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot network.
Consistency & Excellence
Maryland made a repeat appearance at the NCAA Final Four last season 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).
