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University of Maryland Athletics

Terps Host Wisconsin In ACC-Big Ten Challenge

Men's Basketball Maryland Athletics

Terps Host Wisconsin In ACC-Big Ten Challenge

Dec. 1, 2003

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball team (No. 25 USA Today/ESPN, receiving votes AP) begins an arduous non-conference stretch as Wisconsin (No. 13 USA Today/ESPN, No. 15 AP) visits Comcast Center as part of the 2003 ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Terrapins meet the Badgers for the third time in four seasons on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9:30 p.m. in College Park. For the second-straight season, each of the Terps' 27 regular-season games are scheduled to be televised live -- Maryland will meet Wisconsin in the Terps' first national telecast of the year on ESPN2.

  • The Terrapins bring a three-game season-opening win streak into their ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup against the Badgers. On Saturday at Comcast Center, sophomore Nik Caner-Medley led the Terps in scoring for the second-straight game, registering a team-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, to help Maryland top Hofstra, 87-72. Fellow second-year players John Gilchrist (18 points, 6 assists), Travis Garrison (12 points) and Chris McCray (12 points) posted career-high scoring totals as well in the victory, while lone senior Jamar Smith (11 points, 10 rebounds) notched his third double-double in as many games. The Terps are 3-0 to open their schedule for the fifth time during the Gary Williams Era, and have now won their first three home games of the season for the 16th-straight year.

  • The back-to-back Big Ten champion Badgers have also started their season with three victories, the most recent a 55-43 win over Rutgers in Madison on Saturday. Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Devin Harris leads Wisconsin with 16.3 points per game and 4.7 assists, and scored 18 vs. the Scarlet Knights. Senior guard Freddie Owens averages 13.3 points and junior Mike Wilkinson, who has led the Badgers in rebounding for two straight years, averages 8.0 through the team's first three games. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan is in his third season with the Badgers, and has a 46-21 record in Madison. Ryan is in his 20th season as a head coach after 15 seasons at Wisconsin-Platteville and a two-year stint at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

  • The Terrapins earned an 87-57 victory over the Badgers in their last meeting, March 17, 2002, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at MCI Center. Then-senior Juan Dixon scored 29 points, overtaking Len Bias as Maryland's all-time leading scorer during the Terps' march to the national championship. In the series, the Terrapins trail by a 3-1 margin, falling to the Badgers 78-75 in overtime on Nov. 29, 2000, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The only other two meetings between the two schools occurred in 1931 and 1932.

  • Maryland owns a 2-2 record overall in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge after an 80-74 overtime loss to Indiana in the 2002 event in Indianapolis. The Terps defeated Illinois, 76-63, at Cole Field House in 2001, fell to Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 2000, and downed Iowa, 83-65, in 1999 at the Baltimore Arena.

  • The Atlantic Coast Conference has won every ACC-Big Ten Challenge to date, but by narrow margins ever year. Home teams are 19-8 in ACC-Big Ten Challenge play. The ACC (.675) and the Big Ten (.629) are the two winningest conferences in NCAA Tournament history.

    Terp Streaks & Storylines

  • The Terrapins bring a new-look squad to the floor for 2003-04, as Maryland's roster features a combined nine freshmen and sophomores, three juniors and lone senior Jamar Smith. Head coach Gary Williams, now in his 15th season at Maryland and his 26th season overall, returned to his alma mater in 1989 and has since guided the Terrapins to 10 straight NCAA Tournament berths -- a run that includes seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, Final Four showings in 2001 and 2002, and the 2002 NCAA Championship.

  • The 2003-04 Maryland squad appears to be the youngest Williams has coached since the 1993-94 season. That year, with a five-man freshman class that included Keith Booth, Joe Smith and current Terp assistant coach Matt Kovarik, the Terps posted an 18-12 record en route to the Terps' first Sweet Sixteen appearance of the Williams era. The 1994 NCAA Tournament appearance was the first of Maryland's current streak of 10 straight.

  • Maryland is ranked No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches Poll (released Dec. 1), having now appeared in the last 70-consecutive votes of the head coaches. The Terrapins, who finished the 2002-03 season at No. 10, have been ranked in the Coaches Poll's Top 10 in 25 of the last 33 votes.

  • Maryland head coach Gary Williams reached his 500th career victory at NC State on March 2, 2003. His record stands at 505-280, which makes him the 17th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams totals 25 NCAA Tournament victories -- ranking ninth among active coaches -- and is 21-9 at Maryland for a .700 winning percentage after once again leading the Terps to the Sweet Sixteen last season.

  • Williams was recently named the No. 3 college basketball coach in the nation by CBSSportsline.com's Gregg Doyel. Williams' active string of 10-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament ranks tied for fourth in the nation, and he was listed behind only Kentucky's Tubby Smith and Texas Tech's Bob Knight as the NCAA's top mentors on Sportsline's list.

  • The 2003-04 Terrapins look to continue a school record this season by earning a berth in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Maryland is currently one of only six schools in the nation riding a streak of 10-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

  • Maryland has won 30 of 36 (.833) ACC regular-season games over the last three seasons, including a second place 11-5 mark in 2002-03 and a 15-1 ACC regular-season championship in 2001-02.

  • For the second consecutive season and the second time in school history, all of Maryland's 29 preseason and regular-season games are scheduled to be aired on live television. The Terps' 2003-04 broadcast slate includes 14 games that will be broadcast nationally, on ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports Net, ABC or CBS. With the exception of the snow-delayed victory over Wake Forest last February 17, every preseason and regular season game of the Terps' 2002-03 season was aired live, and the Terps' Feb. 19 tilt at Duke ranked as ESPN's top-rated college basketball telecast of all of last year.

  • Maryland is currently the fourth receiving-vote getter in the AP Poll, released Dec. 1. Including finishing the 2002-03 season ranked No. 17, the Terrapins had been ranked in 77 straight AP Polls.

    On Deck

  • The Terrapins participate in the ninth-annual BB&T Classic, meeting No. 17/24 Gonzaga in the first round on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3:30 p.m. Maryland will go on to face either GW or West Virginia on Sunday -- the championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the consolation game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. All games are televised on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network.
  • After the BB&T, Maryland meets No. 2/2 Florida in its first true road game of the season, 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10 on ESPN.
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