University of Maryland Athletics

Terps Top Wake in Battle of ACC Leaders, 90-67

Men's Basketball Maryland Athletics

Terps Tangle With Tar Heels On Saturday At Comcast Center

Feb. 21, 2003

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball team (No. 13 AP, No. 13 USA Today/ESPN) finishes a stretch in which it will have faced three Tobacco Road opponents in only six days as the Terrapins play host to North Carolina on Saturday. Maryland looks to complete the season sweep of the Tar Heels 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 (16-7, 8-4 ACC) enter the game after splitting with No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 8 Duke, all within a three-day span. Maryland downed the Demon Deacons, 90-67, at home on Monday before falling to the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 75-70. The three teams are separated by only one game for the lead in the ACC standings.
  • Maryland battled the Blue Devils for 40 minutes on their home court Wednesday in a contest that went wire-to-wire. The Terps erased a 10-point deficit and were within three points with 44-seconds to play, but could not pull off the victory in Durham. Senior Tahj Holden scored a career-high 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots, and Steve Blake netted 12 points, dished nine assists and tied for the team lead on the boards with seven. Ryan Randle scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half to go along with seven rebounds.
  • The Tar Heels (14-11, 4-7 ACC) come into the contest the winners of three of their last four games. UNC snapped a five-game losing skid with a pair of home victories over Florida State (Feb. 8) and Virginia (Feb. 12) before falling at Clemson last Saturday and whipping North Carolina A&T, 93-57, on Tuesday in Chapel Hill. Freshman swingman Rashad McCants is fifth in the conference and leads the Tar Heels in scoring with a 17.2 ppg average. McCants also paces UNC in rebounding at 5.0 per game. Rookie point guard Raymond Felton averages 12.4 ppg and is third in the conference in assists with a 6.48 average.
  • The Terrapins attempt to capture their fourth-straight victory over North Carolina, a feat that no Maryland team has accomplished since a string of five consecutive wins between 1930 and 1932. The Terrapins trail in the all-time series, 107-51, but have won four out of the last six meetings. Senior Drew Nicholas scored 20 points and Blake added 17 in Maryland's 81-66 victory at Chapel Hill on Jan. 22 of this season. Last time the teams met in College Park, Juan Dixon scored 29 points as part of a 112-79 victory on Jan. 9, 2002 - that game marked the most lopsided margin in the 79-year series and was the most points ever allowed by a Tar Heel team.

    Terp Streaks & Storylines

  • Maryland head coach Gary Williams is just three wins from 500 career victories, with a career record of 497-278. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams owns a 122-94 record against ACC opponents, good enough to tie for fifth all-time. He is tied with former Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell, who amassed 122 ACC victories in 17 seasons at UM. Williams has led the Terps to a 12-2 overall record at Comcast Center and a 5-1 ACC home record this season.
  • Senior Wooden Award candidate Steve Blake totals 1,059 points and 911 assists and would be Maryland's only 1,000- point/1,000-assist man in history should he reach both milestones. By reaching the 1,000-point mark, he became the only player in ACC history to boast at least 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals.
  • Blake enters Saturday's game with 911 career assists, having dished nine on Wednesday to go along with 12 points and seven rebounds. He is currently 10th on the NCAA's all-time career assists chart, and next has his sights set on new Milwaukee Buck and former Oregon State standout Gary Payton, who finished his college career with 939 in 1990.
  • Blake is 89 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 911, and averages 7.01 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 6.96 assist per game average this season now leads the conference.
  • Senior shooting guard Drew Nicholas paces the Terps and is fourth in the ACC with a 17.5 scoring average after averaging 6.3 points as a reserve for three seasons. Nicholas averages 18.1 ppg in ACC games - good enough for second in the conference - and totals 1,072 points for his career.
  • Maryland has won 27 of its last 32 ACC regular season games, including a school-record 14-game streak which concluded at Wake Forest on Jan. 15.
  • The Terrapins have outshot 18 of their first 23 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 and third in the nation at .377, according to the most recent rankings.
  • Maryland is ranked No. 13 in the AP Poll and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (both released Feb. 17), having moved from No. 16/15 last week.
  • The Terps have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 69 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 for 62-straight votes. Maryland has been in the Top 10 in 21 of the past 33 votes by the Associated Press, and in 24 of 35 by the coaches.

    On Deck

  • The first-ever "Senior Day" to be celebrated at Comcast Center is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 25, when the Clemson Tigers visit College Park. Terp seniors and their families will be honored before the game, which will tip at 7 p.m. on RSN.
  • Maryland plays the final two games of the season on the road, both of which will air nationally on FOX Sports Net. The Terps meet NC State in Raleigh on Sunday, March 2 at 8 p.m. Maryland then heads to Charlottesville, Va., to take on the Cavaliers one week later, also at 8 p.m.

    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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