Jan. 9, 2003
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (No. 21 AP, No. 17 USA Today/ESPN) opens a stretch of six consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference contests as the Terrapins host the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 1:30 p.m. at Comcast Center. The Terps put their school-record 13-game ACC win streak on the line in a matchup that airs 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 (8-3, 1-0 ACC) take on the Seminoles following a total team effort in a 108-58 victory over the Hampton Pirates on Wednesday. The Terps' 100th 100-point game in school history was keyed by senior Drew Nicholas, who netted a team-high tying 17 points to register his 11th straight game in double-figures. Dynamic junior transfer Jamar Smith scored 17 points with six rebounds to post his largest contribution as a Terp, and Ryan Randle added 16 points and 12 rebounds to collect his third career double-double. Randle made a school-record 16 straight field goals over three games, and averages 19.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in his last five outings and has shot .623 from the floor.
The Seminoles (9-3, 0-1 ACC) head into Saturday's game winners of their last three contests, most recently a 72-56 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi in Tallahassee. First-year head coach Leonard Hamilton and the 'Noles are still in search of their first ACC victory, having lost to North Carolina at home on Dec. 22. Junior transfer Tim Pickett leads the squad with 18.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds, and has scored at least 22 points in his last three contests. Florida State is the national leader in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a .352 average.
The Terrapins own a 20-6 advantage in the overall series with the Seminoles, and have won 13 of the last 15 meetings. Maryland has beaten Florida State in the last three meetings, including a 85-59 victory in last season's ACC Tournament. The Terps are 8-3 vs. the Seminoles all-time in College Park.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
The Terrapins are currently riding a 13-game ACC regular season win streak, which stands as a school record. The Terrapins have achieved victory in every ACC regular season game since a 99-90 home win over Clemson on Jan. 20, 2002, in Cole Field House. The Terps' last ACC loss came at Duke, 99-78, on Jan. 17, 2002.
The Terrapins are currently riding an 11-game ACC regular season win streak at home. Saturday's contest marks the second-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 they 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 489 career victories, and is now just 11 wins from 500. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams is sixth in conference history with 115 ACC victories.
Senior point guard Steve Blake enters Saturday's game with 834 career assists, placing him 18th on the NCAA all-time career assist chart.
Blake is 166 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 834, and averages 7.07 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. His 7.6 assist per game average is currently second in the conference this season.
Maryland freshmen Nik Caner-Medley and Travis Garrison started together for the fourth straight game against Hampton, 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.
The Terrapins have outshot nine of their first 11 opponents from the field, and have held six 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).
Now in the final game of a six-game homestand, the Terps are on a new four-game home win streak after posting 21 straight victories in College Park. Before their loss to Florida (Dec. 14) the Terps had run off a stretch that 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 is ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, released Jan. 6. The Terrapins were No. 22/20 in the previous AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls from Dec. 30. The Terps have been ranked in the AP top 25 for 63 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN top 25 for 56 straight votes.
On Deck
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.
The best rivalry in college basketball will be renewed for the 151st meeting when No. 1/1 Duke makes its first trip to Comcast Center on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Blue Devils come to College Park for a 1:30 p.m. nationally-televised ACC matchup on ABC.
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 Terrapins return to Comcast Center for a Jan. 30 meeting with the NC State Wolfpack.
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).
