March 23, 2003

By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A week ago, the Maryland Terrapins were just happy to be back in the NCAA tournament. Now the defending national champions have decided that finishing the season with another title will work quite nicely.

The sixth-seeded Terrapins used a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to survive a first-round game with North Carolina-Wilmington, then used the momentum of that shot to jump on Xavier early en route to a 77-64 victory Sunday in the second round of the South Regional.

That has them in the round of 16 for a third straight year, the seventh time in 10 years and the 13th overall.

Staggering numbers, yet still not enough for these Terps.

"Until we get beat, we're going to be the defending national champs," Maryland senior Tahj Holden said. "We have a lot of experience, and we use it to our advantage. You go in with the confidence that you're going to win every game."

The Terrapins (21-9) will play seventh-seeded Michigan State (21-12) in the South Regional semifinals Friday night in San Antonio. It will be the teams' first meeting since 1955 when the Spartans beat Maryland in the Winter Festival at Cole Field House.

The Spartans, who won the title in 2000, know how hard it is to defend a title.

"It's definitely hard because everybody's going after you," senior forward Aloysius Anagonye said after Michigan State beat second-seeded Florida 68-46. "We're going to enjoy this win and Monday, we're going to talk about that."

But this is a very different Maryland team even from last season's championship squad. The Terps lost their four starters and their top four scorers off that team and still started four seniors against Xavier (26-6).

The Terps boast of being the only program to reach the final eight the past season, and yet they've also been among the final four the past two seasons. That kind of experience mixed with Drew Nicholas' game-winning shot in the first round and the upset of Xavier has boosted their confidence significantly.

"We're the only team in the tournament who's the defending champs," point guard Steve Blake said. "We want to prove how good we are and make a name for ourselves."

Coach Gary Williams' original goal this season was getting Maryland into the NCAA tournament for a 10th straight year despite being every opponent's top target as the defending champion.

"Each year you try to create an identity. I've been on them since Nov. 15th about that," Williams said.

Maybe the Terps just needed to be in the NCAA tournament to find their comfort level.

They came into the tournament having lost two straight and would have become the first defending champ since UCLA in 1996 to lose in the first round if not for Nicholas' shot. It was far from easy as he took an inbounds pass, raced down the floor and swished the shot from off his back foot with a defender in his face.

Maryland didn't need the late heroics against Xavier, taking control with an 19-4 run in the opening minutes and led by as much as 20. When David West scored nine of his 22 points to help the third-seeded Musketeers (26-6) pull within 60-57 with 6:06 left, Nicholas hit another 3 to start an 11-4 spurt that put the victory away.

Nicholas and Ryan Randle scored 17 points apiece against Xavier. Blake, the most experienced player in the tournament, had nine points and nine assists as the Terrapins shot 51.7 percent (30-of-58) from the floor.

"If Maryland is a sixth seed in this tournament, man, they're the best one I've seen," Xavier coach Thad Matta said.

Credit tradition at a program where every NCAA tournament is cherished and expectations are high.

"It will never get old to me because in 1991 and 1992 we weren't even allowed to be in the tournament because of sanctions before I got there, and I'll always remember that," Williams said.