University of Maryland Athletics

Terps Wrap Up Regular Season With Sunday Tilt At Virginia

Men's Basketball Maryland Athletics

Terps Wrap Up Regular Season With Sunday Tilt At Virginia

March 7, 2003

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland basketball team (No. 13 AP, No. 12 USA Today/ESPN) concludes the 2002-03 regular season with its second-straight ACC road contest, this time on Sunday at Virginia at 8 p.m. The Terrapins, who are currently tied for second place in the conference standings at only one-half game behind Wake Forest at press time, are still very much alive in the conference race as they look to avenge a Feb. 6 home loss at the hands of the Cavaliers. The game will be nationally televised by FOX Sports Net, airing in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area on Comcast SportsNet.

  • The Terrapins (19-7, 11-4 ACC) come into the game after mounting a pair of second-half double-digit comebacks to down NC State and earn a 500th career victory for head coach Gary Williams. Senior Drew Nicholas scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and netted the game-winning 3-pointer with only 1.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Foward Tahj Holden recorded a career-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Steve Blake contributed seven assists in Maryland's first victory of its kind since Juan Dixon lifted the Terps to a 69-67 win over No. 16 Illinois in the 1999 BB&T Classic. A win this Sunday would give Maryland a school-record seventh straight 20-win season.
  • Currently the eighth-place team in the ACC, Virginia (14-14, 5-10 ACC) enters the contest having fallen in its last seven games. In their last outing, the Cavaliers dropped a 90-73 decision to Georgia Tech at home on Wednesday, March 5. Senior center Travis Watson, who is the ACC's active leader in double-doubles and rebounding, scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against the Yellow Jackets, while sophomore Devin Smith totaled 18.
  • The Terrapins are 11-4 in their last 15 meetings with the Cavaliers, and lead the all-time series by a 95-62 margin. The Terrapins are 3-2 in their last five visits to Virginia's University Hall after No. 3 Maryland overcame a nine-point deficit with 3:22 to play on Jan. 31, 2002 in Charlottesville. Nicholas nailed a pair of clutch 3-pointers as part of the Terp comeback and also paced Maryland scorers with 20 points in the Terps' 86-78 loss at home earlier this season.

    Terp Streaks & Storylines

  • The Terrapins are guaranteed their sixth-consecutive Top 3 finish in the ACC in 2003, and an 11th-straight finish among the league's top four teams. Further, as of release time, Maryland is still in contention for a share of what would be its fifth-ever ACC regular season title (1975, 1980, T-1995, 2002). A Wake Forest loss at NC State on Saturday and a Maryland win on Sunday over Virginia would tie the Terrapins with the Deacons with a 12-4 league record, good enough for a share of first place. Due to ACC tiebreaker rules it would give the Terps the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament for the second straight season, and would mark the Terps' first-ever string of back-to-back regular season championships.
  • Maryland totals double-figure ACC victories for a school-record six consecutive seasons, and averages 11.7 conference wins per year across that stretch.
  • Maryland head coach Gary Williams reached his 500th career victory at NC State on March 2, two days before celebrating his 58th birthday. His record stands at 500-278, which makes him the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. Williams' 125-94 record against ACC opponents is fifth all-time, and his 4-3 ACC road record this season is tied for best in the conference.
  • Senior Wooden Award candidate Steve Blake totals 1,093 points and 933 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 Sunday's game with 933 career assists, having dished seven on Sunday. He is currently 10th on the NCAA's all-time career assists chart, and is only six away from Milwaukee Buck and former Oregon State standout Gary Payton, who finished his college career with 939 in 1990.
  • Blake is 67 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 933, and averages 7.02 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 7.0 assist per game average this season also leads the conference.
  • Senior shooting guard Drew Nicholas paces the Terps and is fourth in the ACC with a 17.3 scoring average after averaging 6.3 points as a reserve for three seasons. Nicholas averages 17.6 ppg in ACC games - good enough for third in the conference - and totals 1,119 points for his career.
  • Maryland has won 30 of its last 35 (.857) ACC regular season games, including a school-record 14-game streak which concluded at Wake Forest on Jan. 15.
  • The Terrapins have outshot 21 of their first 26 opponents from the field, have held nine opponents to less than 33 percent shooting, and 12 under 35 percent. As a team, Maryland is first in the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage defense and second in the nation at .373, according to the most recent rankings.
  • Maryland is ranked No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (both released March 3), having moved from No. 14/14 last week.
  • The Terps have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 71 consecutive weeks, and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 for 64-straight votes. Maryland has been in the Top 10 in 21 of the past 35 votes by the Associated Press, and in 24 of 37 by the coaches.

    On Deck

  • Maryland participates in the 50th Annual ACC Tournament from March 13-16, in Greensboro, N.C., at the Greensboro Coliseum. The championship game will be played on Sunday, March 16, at 1 p.m. on Raycom/Jefferson Pilot and ESPN. All games of the tournament are televised.

    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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