Jan. 30, 2004
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (11-6, 2-4 ACC) returns home for a Super Bowl Sunday ACC matchup with NC State (11-5, 4-2 ACC). The Terps, who have played three of their last four games on the road, return to the friendly confines of Comcast Center for a 2 p.m. meeting with the Wolfpack. For the second-straight season, each of the Terps' 27 regular-season games are scheduled to be televised live - Maryland meets NC State in a nationally-televised contest on FOX Sports Net, which will air in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area on Comcast SportsNet.
The Terps are 4-4 all-time on Super Bowl Sunday, and are 2-2 in meetings with NC State on the day of the NFL championship game. The last time Maryland and NC State clashed on Super Bowl Sunday, the Terps posted an 89-73 victory on Feb. 3, 2002, in College Park before the New England Patriots went on to defeat the St. Louis Rams, 20-17, on the strength of an Adam Vinatieri 48-yard field goal in New Orleans (Super Bowl XXXVI). Maryland also recorded an 87-80 win in College Park on Jan. 9, 1977 (Oakland 32, Minnesota 14; Super Bowl XI in Pasadena, Calif.), while NC State owns two Super Bowl Sunday victories over the Terps: an 87-85 Wolfpack win on Jan. 14, 1973, in College Park (Miami 14, Washington 7; Super Bowl VII in Los Angeles) and an 80-74 matchup at Cole Field House on Jan. 13, 1974 (Miami 24, Minnesota 7; Super Bowl VIII in Houston).
The Terps, who are receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls, took on its ACC-leading seventh Top 25 opponent on Thursday in No. 19/17 Wake Forest, and played their first half to perfection en route to a 10-point lead before suffering a 93-85 loss in Winston-Salem. Maryland was within three points at several critical times in the second half - including with 51 seconds to play - but could not get the key buckets it needed to steal a road win. Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley led five Terrapin double-figure scorers with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, and Travis Garrison put forth another tremendous reserve effort with 13 points and five rebounds. Point guard John Gilchrist, who dealt a career-high tying nine assists, led a late charge and finished with 12 points, while senior center Jamar Smith netted 10 with six rebounds and rookie sharpshooter Mike Jones made three 3-pointers and tallied 11 for the Terps.
The Wolfpack, also receiving votes in both polls, come into the game after a narrow miss in Chapel Hill on Wednesday, where they fell 68-66. Senior center Marcus Melvin led the 'Pack with 15 points and nine rebounds, while NC State's leading scorer (17.3 ppg), junior Julius Hodge, netted 12 with three steals. Senior guard Scooter Sherrill rounds out the trio of double-figure Wolfpack scorers with a 10.5 ppg average. NC State head coach Herb Sendek is 136-103 in his eighth season with the Wolfpack, and has led his team to berths in the last two NCAA tournaments.
The Terrapins trail in the all-time series by a 68-65 margin but have won eight of the last 10 and 23 of the last 27 (.852) contests. Maryland has not lost at home to NC State since Jan. 29, 1989 - the season before Gary Williams returned to his alma mater. Sendek is 3-14 all-time vs. the Terps and is 0-9 in College Park.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
The Terrapins are 32-10 (.762) in their last 42 ACC regular-season games since the 2000-01 season, including a 15-1 regular-season championship in 2001-02. The Terps have captured the league's regular-season championship four times, including outright titles in 2002, 1975 and 1980 and a tie for first in 1995. Head coach Gary Williams is 127-99 in ACC regular-season play in his 15 seasons at Maryland.
In 26 seasons, Williams owns a career record of 513-286 overall (.642), making him the 16th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. He is 306-158 (.659) in 15 seasons as the head coach at Maryland - only six coaches in college basketball history have captured as many victories as the leader of a program in the Atlantic Coast Conference. 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.
Maryland has faced seven ranked opponents during the 2003-04 season to date - the most of any team in the ACC - posting a league-high tying three victories against Top 25 foes. In addition to No. 9/11 North Carolina (Jan. 14), The Terps defeated a pair of ranked opponents during non-conference play in No. 15/13 Wisconsin (Dec. 2) and No. 1/1 Florida (Dec. 10). The win over UNC was Maryland's 53rd victory vs. the Top 25 since Williams took over the program in the 1989-90 season.
No. 19/17 Wake Forest was Maryland's ACC-leading seventh Top 25 opponent of the season. Florida State has faced six, followed by Clemson (5), North Carolina (5), Wake (4), Georgia Tech (4), Duke (3), Virginia (3) and NC State (3). The Terrapins join the Seminoles, Blue Devils, Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels with an ACC-best three Top 25 victories apiece.
Maryland's roster features a combined nine freshmen and sophomores, two juniors and lone senior Jamar Smith. The Terps have lost a combined nine starters over the course of the past two seasons to either graduation or professional careers.
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. The 1993-94 Terps posted an 8-8 ACC record.
With the victory over No. 1 Florida on Dec. 10, Williams became the winningest active coach in college basketball in terms of wins over top-ranked opponents (6). The Terps have posted victories over five No. 1-ranked foes with Williams as their head coach, and his Ohio State team captured a win over top-ranked Iowa in 1987, giving Williams a grand total of six. The win over the Gators marked the third-straight season in which Maryland has beaten a No. 1 squad.
The 2003-04 Terrapins look to continue a school record this season by earning a berth in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Williams 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. Maryland is currently one of only six schools in the nation riding a streak of 10-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
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 receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls. Including finishing the 2002-03 season ranked No. 17, the Terrapins had been ranked in 77 straight AP Polls. Maryland has been "receiving votes" in both polls all season long, and the young squad has been ranked as high as No. 24.
On Deck
Next, the Terrapins hit the road once again for "rivalry week" as Maryland visits Virginia on Wednesday, Feb. 4, for a 9 p.m. tilt on the Raycom/JP Network.
