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University of Maryland Athletics

Terrapins Look To Rebound With ACC Trip To Tallahassee

Men's Basketball Maryland Athletics

Terrapins Look To Rebound With ACC Trip To Tallahassee

Feb. 10, 2003

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball squad (No. 16 AP, No. 15 USA Today/ESPN) looks to get back to its winning ways as the Terps play in their second-straight ACC road contest on Wednesday vs. Florida State. The Terrapins, who recorded an 89-62 victory over the Seminoles at Comcast Center on Jan. 11, hope to finish the season sweep and post a league-high third ACC road victory on Feb. 12. The Terps meet the Seminoles at 9 p.m. in a game 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 (14-6, 6-3 ACC) enter Wednesday's game looking to bounce back from a pair of conference losses. On Sunday, despite cutting what was a 13-point Tech lead to only two points, the Terps saw their comeback effort fall just short as the Jackets held on for the 90-84 victory. Senior Drew Nicholas scored 16 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, and backcourt partner and Wooden Award candidate Steve Blake netted 10 and dished eight assists. Meanwhile, senior center Ryan Randle poured in 14 points and grabbed a team-high tying six rebounds, and freshman Nik Caner-Medley contributed a career-high 14-points with six rebounds, four steals and three assists in his most complete performance to date.
  • The Seminoles (11-9, 2-7 ACC) come into the contest having fallen in three of their last four games, most recently being nipped by North Carolina, 61-60, in Chapel Hill on Saturday. Junior guard Tim Pickett leads the Seminoles in scoring at 17.5 ppg and rebounding with 5.8 rpg, and paces the conference in steals with 3.3 spg. Sophomore forward Michael Joiner adds 12.6 ppg and scored a team-high 17 against the Tar Heels.
  • The Terrapins have won 14 out of the last 15 contests against the Seminoles, and four in a row to increase their overall series advantage to 21-6. In their earlier meeting on Jan. 11, Nicholas led the Terps with 23 points, nine rebounds and a team-high tying four assists. He was the first player to lead Maryland in all three categories since Keith Booth in 1997.

    Terp Streaks & Storylines

  • Maryland head coach Gary Williams is just five wins from 500 career victories, with a career record of 495-277. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams owns a 120-93 record against ACC opponents, good enough for sixth all-time. He is three conference wins away from passing former Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell, who amassed 122 victories in 17 seasons in College Park. Williams has led the Terps to a 2-2 ACC road record this season, which ties Maryland for the best away slate in the league.
  • Maryland has won 25 of its last 29 ACC regular season games, including a school-record 14-game streak which concluded at Wake Forest on Jan. 15.
  • Senior shooting guard Drew Nicholas paces the Terps and is third in the ACC with a 17.8 scoring average after averaging 6.3 points as a reserve for three seasons. Nicholas averages 18.9 ppg in ACC games - good enough for second in the conference - and totals 1,025 points for his career.
  • Wooden Award candidate Steve Blake totals 1,011 points and 889 assists and would be Maryland's only 1,000 point/1,000 assist man in history should he reach both marks. By reaching the 1,000-point milestone, he became the only player in ACC history to boast at least 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals.
  • Blake enters Wednesday's game with 889 career assists, having dished eight Sunday to pass Old Dominion's Frank Smith and Bradley's Jim Les, who finished their careers with 883 and 884 assists in 1988 and 1986. Blake is now 13th on the NCAA's all-time career assists chart, and would move into 11th place with six more helpers.
  • Blake is 111 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 889, and averages 7.00 per game for his career.
  • 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 6.9 assist per game average this season is currently second in the conference.
  • The Terrapins have outshot 17 of their first 20 opponents from the field, have held seven opponents to less than 33 percent shooting, and 10 under 35 percent. As a team, Maryland is first in the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage defense at .376, according to most recent ACC rankings.
  • Maryland is ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (both released Feb. 10), having moved from No. 8 in both polls last week, which stood as the highest ranking of the 2002-03 season.
  • The Terps have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 68 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 for 61-straight votes. Maryland has been in the Top 10 for 21 of the past 32 votes by the Associated Press, and in 24 of 34 by USA Today/ESPN.

    On Deck

  • Maryland returns to Comcast Center after two on the road for a meeting with the current first-place ACC squad, Wake Forest, on Feb. 16. The Terps-Deacs rematch airs on FOX Sports Net at 8 p.m.
  • The Maryland-Duke rivalry, which has grown to be the fiercest in all of college basketball, takes to Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. on Wed., Feb. 19. The Terps, who have won at Cameron in two of the last three trips, will attempt to hand Duke its first home loss in 26 games at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

    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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