Terrapins And Tar Heels On Wednesday
1/21/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2003
Maryland vs. North Carolina Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Terrapin basketball team (No. 12 AP, No. 11USA Today/ESPN) takes its ACC momentum into a Wednesday evening battle in Chapel Hill when Maryland meets North Carolina. The defending national champions play the first of two road games this week on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in a live national telecast on ESPN.
* The Terrapins (10-4, 3-1 ACC) hope to win their first ACC road contest of the year, after a week which included a loss at Wake Forest and an 87-72 home win over top-ranked Duke. Senior center Ryan Randle posted his fourth double-double of the season against the Blue Devils, recording 15 points and a career-best 17 rebounds, while senior guard Drew Nicholas scored 24 points to lead the Terrapins. National honors candidate Steve Blake directed the Maryland proficient Maryland attack with eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and a pair of 3-pointers. Maryland outrebounded the Blue Devils 43-32, and the Terps' 93.5 percent free throw shooting (29-of-31) was the sixth-best in school history.
* Like Maryland, North Carolina enters Wednesday's game following an upset of a higher-ranked opponent. The Tar Heels host Maryland after defeating No. 6 ranked Connecticut last Saturday, 68-65. Freshman Rashad McCants scored 27 points against the Huskies, and currently leads the ACC with a 19.0 per game scoring clip North Carolina has won two straight games overall, and four straight at the Dean Smith Center.
* In what is the 158th meeting between Maryland and North Carolina (UNC leads 107-50), the Terrapins are aiming for a third straight victory in the series for the first time since Jan. 30, 1965 when sophomore point guard Gary Williams posted three assists, seven rebounds and two points in a 91-80 victory at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels' Billy Cunningham scored 30 points to lead the Heels, while Gary Ward and Jay McMillen paced Maryland with 27 and 28 points, respectively. Maryland's 92-77 road win at the Smith Center in 2002 was its first road win over the Tar Heels since 1999. The Terps have not won consecutive road games in Chapel Hill since 1996 and 1997.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
* Maryland head coach Gary Williams owns 491 career victories, and is now just nine wins from 500. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams is sixth in conference history with 117 ACC wins, closing fast on former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell's mark of 122.
* After last Saturday's win over then top-rated Duke, Maryland has beaten eight top-ranked teams all-time, including its 14-point win over then-No. 1 Duke on Feb. 17 of 2002. Seven of those victories have come in College Park (six at Cole Field House, one at Comcast Center). Maryland's only road win over No. 1 came against North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Feb. 20, 1986 (77-72 OT).
* The Terrapins are currently riding a 13-game ACC regular season win streak at home. 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.
* Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Wednesday's game with 851 career assists, placing him 18th on the NCAA all-time career assist chart. He needs five to move into 17th place, and seven to supplant Clemson's Grayson Marshall in 16th.
* Blake is 149 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 851, and averages 7.03 per game for his career.
* Blake is 64 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 75 points for a career total of 1,000. He paces the Terps and is third in the ACC with a 18.3 scoring average, and averages 21.3 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 7.14 assist per game average this season is currently second in the conference.
* The Terrapins have outshot 12 of their first 14 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 (19.14 per game), blocked shots (7.64 per game), steals (11.29 per game), assist/turnover ratio (1.33), 3-point percentage (.397), 3-point percentage defense (.270) and defensive rebounds (29.00 per game).
* Maryland is ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, released Jan. 20. The Terrapins were No. 17/15 in the previous AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls from Jan. 13. The Terps have been ranked in the AP top 25 for 65 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN top 25 for 58 straight votes.
On Deck
* After the UNC road game, Maryland travles to Clemson for a 4 p.m. afternoon matchup on Saturday, Jan. 25 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.
* The NC State game is the first of three straight home games, followed by a Feb. 2 non-league matchup with Loyola (Md.) and a Feb. 6 return to the ACC against Virginia.
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).
