Jan. 3, 2003
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (No. 22 AP, No. 20 USA Today/ESPN) plays in its first game of the new year when the Wagner Seahawks of the Northeast Conference visit College Park on Saturday, Jan. 4. Tip-off has been changed to 4 p.m. as the Terps and Seahawks clash in a contest that airs regionally on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot network, locally on WDCA (UPN-20 in Washington, D.C.) and WNUV (WB-54 in the Baltimore area).
The Terrapins (6-3, 1-0 ACC) meet the Seahawks after posting an 84-77 victory over Georgia Tech in their first conference game of the season. Senior Drew Nicholas scored a career-high 29 points against Tech and also hauled in seven rebounds, while center Ryan Randle finished with 20 points and grabbed six boards. Floor general Steve Blake dished eight assists to bring his career total to 814, and needs only two more assists to move into the NCAA's all-time top 20.
Wagner (4-5) comes into the game after snapping a four-game losing skid with wins over American and Lehigh at home. The Seahawks topped Lehigh on Thursday, 80-68, in Staten Island, N.Y., before traveling to College Park for Saturday's contest. Senior forward Jermaine Hall paces Wagner with 21.3 points per game, while guard Dedrick Dye averages 15.8 points. Junior center Nigel Wyatte totals 10.2 points and 8.7 rebounds.
Saturday's game marks only the second meeting ever for the Terrapins and Seahawks, and the first in 22 seasons. The Terps were victorious, 96-73, on Dec. 5, 1980 at the Carrier Classic in Syracuse, N.Y.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Maryland is ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, released Dec. 30. The Terrapins were No. 23/22 in the previous AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls from Dec. 23. The Terps have been ranked in the AP top 25 for 62 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN top 25 for 55 straight votes.
Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Saturday's game with 814 career assists, placing him 21st on the NCAA all-time career assist chart. He is only two assists away from cracking the NCAA all-time top 20, and three away from passing former Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves, who finished his career in 1999-00 with 816.
Blake is 186 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 814, and averages 7.02 per game for his career.
Blake led the ACC in assists as a sophomore (6.9) and a junior (7.9), and ranked second in the country last season while guiding Maryland to the NCAA title.
Freshman Travis Garrison joined fellow newcomer Nik Caner-Medley in the starting lineup for the second straight game vs. Georgia Tech (Dec. 29), marking the first time that two Terp freshmen have started consecutive games since 1996. Then rookies Obinna Ekezie and Terrell Stokes were in the starting lineup for three games in a row that season (Wake Forest, Missouri, NC State). Caner-Medley has started five games this season, and Garrison has started two.
An early trend in the 2002-03 season, the Terrapins have outshot seven of their first nine opponents from the field (.458 vs. .365), and have held four opponents to less than 33% shooting. As a team, Maryland is second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage defense and ranks in the top 10 nationally (sixth as of Dec. 16).
The Terps are now on a two-game home win streak (and two overall) after posting 21 straight victories in College Park before their loss to Florida (Dec. 14). That 21-game stretch dated to a loss on Feb. 14, 2001 - 74-71 to Florida State. The 21 victories at home had spanned three seasons - 2000-01 (3), 2001-02 (15), 2002-03 (3). Maryland's longest home win streak of all-time is 24 games set between the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
Maryland began a new non-conference homecourt win streak with a 101-60 victory over UMBC (Dec. 23). The Terps owned the nation's longest streak of that kind, an 87 game stretch, which began on Dec. 30, 1989 against Alcorn State and ended against Florida on Dec. 14, 2002.
Maryland began its 80th consecutive basketball season against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 24, and the Terps own a 5-1 record in the $125 million, 17,950-seat Comcast Center. Comcast is historically the fourth home of Terrapin basketball, following: The Gymnasium (1923-24 to 1930-31); Ritchie Coliseum (1931-32 to 1954-55); and Cole Field House (1955-56 to 2001-02).
On Deck
The Hampton Pirates of the MEAC visit Comcast Center on Jan. 8, in a game that will be aired live by the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network. That game is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m.
ACC play continues at home when the Florida State Seminoles make their first trip to Comcast Center on Saturday, Jan. 11. The 1:30 p.m. contest between the Terps and Seminoles will also air on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network.
Maryland's first ACC away game, and the first contest on the road since the Terps' BB&T victory over George Washington on Dec. 8, will be on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at Wake Forest. The Terps tangle with the still-undefeated Demon Deacons at 9 p.m. in a game that 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).
