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University of Maryland Athletics

Top Two ACC Teams Meet In College Park On Thursday

Men's Basketball Maryland Athletics

Top Two ACC Teams Meet In College Park On Thursday

Jan. 30, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball team (No. 10 AP, No. 9 USA Today/ESPN) takes on NC State in a battle between the current first and second place teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terrapins look for their fourth-straight league victory in a contest that will air regionally on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot network, and locally on WDCA (UPN 20 in Washington, D.C.) and WNUV (WB-54 in the Baltimore area).

  • The Terrapins (12-4, 5-1 ACC) come into the game after a pair of road victories that earned them the top spot in the ACC standings. Senior center Ryan Randle posted his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 81-66 victory at North Carolina on Wednesday, and fellow upperclassman Drew Nicholas netted 14 points as the Terps gritted out a 52-47 win at Clemson on Saturday. Nicholas leads the Terps with an 18.1 points per game average, and is tied for third among the conference leaders. Randle is second on the squad and tied for 14th in ACC scoring at 13.4 ppg, and third in the league in rebounding with 8.2 per game.
  • The Wolfpack (11-4, 4-1 ACC) have also won three straight conference games and currently are second in the league. ACC scoring leader Julius Hodge netted 30 points in the Pack's last victory, an 86-77 decision over North Carolina in Raleigh on Sunday. Hodge (19.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg), junior Marcus Melvin (13.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and sophomore Josh Powell (12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) anchor a big front line for NC State.
  • The Terrapins have taken 21 of the last 25 meetings with the Wolfpack, although NC State leads the series 68-63 and was responsible for ending the Terps' 13-game win streak last season in the ACC Tournament semifinals. The Terrapins won both regular season meetings a year ago, and own a 33-20 advantage over the Pack in College Park. NC State coach Herb Sendek has never won a game in College Park and Maryland's Gary Williams has never lost to the Wolfpack in College Park. The Terps have won their last 13 home games in the series, dating to Williams' first season in 1989-90. Thursday's game is NC State's first visit to the Terps' new Comcast Center.

    Terp Streaks & Storylines

  • 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.
  • Maryland has won 24 of its last 26 ACC league games, including a school-record 14-game streak which was ended at Wake Forest on Jan. 15.
  • Maryland head coach Gary Williams owns 493 career victories, and is now just seven wins from 500. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams is sixth in conference history with 119 ACC wins, closing fast on former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell's mark of 122.
  • Speaking of Lefty Driesell, Maryland welcomes its former coach to Comcast Center on Thursday night to honor the man who guided the Terrapins program for 17 seasons from 1970 to 1986. Driesell retired last December as the fourth-winningest coach in Division I history with 786 college coaching wins, 348 of those coming at Maryland. It is anticipated that he will be joined during a halftime ceremony by former Maryland players Len Elmore and Tom McMillen who starred for the Terps during an era which was marked, ironically, by its annual series with NC State.
  • Maryland is ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, released Jan. 27, returning to the Top 10 for the first time in eight weeks. The Terrapins were No. 12/11in the previous polls from Jan. 13.
  • The Terps have been ranked in the AP top 25 for 66 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN top 25 for 59 straight votes. Maryland has been in the Top 10 for 20 of the past 30 votes by the Associated Press, and in 23 of 32 by USA Today/ESPN.
  • Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Saturday's game with 859 career assists, placing him 16th on the NCAA all-time career assist chart and fourth in the ACC.
  • Blake is 141 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 859, and averages 7.01 per game for his career.
  • Blake is 39 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 41 points for a career total of 1,000. He paces the Terps and is third in the ACC with a 18.1 scoring average, and averages 19.8 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 6.75 assist per game average this season is currently second in the conference.
  • The Terrapins have outshot 14 of their first 16 opponents from the field, and have held seven opponents to less than 33 percent shooting - nine under 35 percent. As a team, Maryland is first in the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage defense and ranks first nationally at .358 according to most recent NCAA rankings.

    On Deck

  • The NC State game is the first of three straight home games, followed by a Feb. 2 non-league matchup with Loyola (Md.) (1 p.m., RJ), and a Feb. 6 return to the ACC against Virginia (9 p.m., ESPN2).
  • Maryland's next road game is at Georgia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 9 (1:00) in a nationally-televised bout on CBS-TV. It also is the day of the NBA All-Star game in Atlanta.

    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).
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