Nov. 12, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (No. 15 AP, No. 16 USA Today/ESPN) takes on the 2003 and 2004 Canadian national champions, the Carleton University Ravens, on Saturday at Comcast Center. The game will not be on television, but it will be carried live on the radio across the Terrapin Sports Network.
Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the radio pregame show begins at 12:30 p.m.
"Voice of the Terps" Johnny Holliday and Chris Knoche call the action on flagship stations WBAL 1090-AM (Baltimore), WMAL 630-AM (Washington, D.C.) and affiliates WTBO 145-AM (Cumberland), WFMD 930-AM (Frederick), WARK 1490-AM (Hagerstown), WMSG 1050-AM (Oakland), WQMR 101.1-FM (Ocean City) and WTGM 960-AM (Salisbury).
Last Time Out
The Maryland basketball team opened the 2004-05 season Friday night with a hard-fought 100-85 exhibition win over a gritty Division II Bryant College squad in the teams' first-ever meeting.
Maryland brought out a seasoned starting lineup that included juniors PG John Gilchrist, SG Chris McCray, SF Nik Caner-Medley, PF Travis Garrison and sophomore C Ekene Ibekwe.
Five Terps scored in double figures and Garrison poured in 20 points to lead the way, while chipping in 7 rebounds. Ibekwe fell just one board shy of a double-double, finishing with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Gilchrist, McCray and Caner-Medley also reached the double-digit plateau, contributing 18, 14 and 12 points, respectively. After falling behind by two at the break, Maryland outscored the Bulldogs 54-37 in the final 20 minutes.
Terps At A Glance
Last March, head coach Gary Williams led his Terrapins to the 2004 ACC Tournament championship, giving Maryland its first ACC title since 1984. The Terrapins became one of only three teams in ACC Tournament history to knock off the top three seeds when they downed No. 3 Wake Forest (87-86), No. 2 NC State (85-82) and No. 1 Duke (95-87 (ot) en route to an automatic bid and No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps reached the Second Round and finished the season with a 20-12 record.
The Terrapins return 11 letterwinners and four starters from what was statistically the youngest team in the nation in 2003-04. ACC Tournament MVP John Gilchrist, who led the Terps in scoring, assists and steals a season ago, has been named to the preseason Wooden Award Watch List and Dick Vitale's All Rolls Royce Team. Sharpshooter and tenacious defender Chris McCray returns to round out one of the nation's top backcourts, while versatile Nik Caner-Medley and powerful big man Travis Garrison return in the post. All four of the Terps returning starters put forth standout performances as the Terps took a 12-day tour of Italy in August.
The Terrapins, who finished the 2003-04 season ranked No. 19/24 in the polls, have earned preseason rankings spanning from 7th to 20th in the nation.
National Prominence
The 2004-05 Terrapins will look to continue a school-record by earning a berth in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Maryland is currently riding a streak of 11 straight NCAA appearances since 1994, including seven trips to the Sweet Sixteen during that time span, Final Four appearances in 2001 and 2002, and the 2002 national title.
Maryland is one of only five Division I basketball programs that has appeared in the last 11 NCAA Tournaments. Arizona, Cincinnati, Kansas and Kentucky are the others.
Maryland finished the 2004 season ranked 19th in the AP Poll, marking the Terps' eighth-straight Top 25 finish. The Terps have been ranked in the AP and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 consistently since 1994-95.
Comcast's Italy Special To Air Nov. 12 and Nov. 19
Comcast SportsNet's hour-long documentary on the men's basketball team's summer Italian Tour replays tonight at 7 p.m. Fans can also catch the documentary when it re-airs on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.
The program, titled "The Ultimate Road Game: The Terps In Italy" is hosted by Chick Hernandez and features behind the scenes action from Maryland's trip. Fans are also treated to interviews with head coach Gary Williams and the rest of the Terps from throughout the five-game, 12-day tour.
Study Tabs Terps Among Elite
An academic study by the Leisure Intelligence Group (LIG) released on March 3, 2004, tabbed the University of Maryland men's basketball program among the five most successful and popular teams in NCAA Division I.
LIG, using ESPN sports poll data measuring fan interest, loyalty and behavior relevant to basketball "brands," found that the top five Division I programs in terms of national popularity are Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA and Maryland. The study indicates that history, tradition and past successes are primary influences of fan interest.
According to the study, conducted by LIG founder and University of Michigan professor Richard Luker, the Atlantic Coast Conference holds the highest measurable level of national fan interest and competitiveness of any league in NCAA Division I basketball -- the results of the study found that the ACC's popularity should not change with expansion.
The ACC was the nation's highest rated league throughout the 2003-04 season according to the RPI report, with five teams ranked in the final Top 25 and seven that appeared in the polls over the course of the year. ACC teams posted a 91-16 (.850) record against non-conference opponents in 2003-04, including a 7-2 record in winning the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
20-Win Seasons
The Terrapins will look to extend an active school-record streak of 20-win seasons to nine in 2004-05. The Terps have established a streak of eight 20-win seasons since 1997, a further testament to the Terps' successful consistency under Williams.
Maryland broke a five-season string of 20-win seasons in 2001-02 with its sixth-straight season of as many victories. The Terps had won at least 20 games from 1971-72 to 1975-76.
Year Record NCAA Appearance
1996-97 21-11 NCAA First Round
1997-98 21-11 NCAA Sweet 16
1998-99 28-6 NCAA Sweet 16
1999-00 25-10 NCAA Second Round
2000-01 25-11 NCAA Final Four
2001-02 32-4 National Champions
2002-03 21-10 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003-04 20-12 NCAA Second Round
Terps On TV
The Terps' first two exhibition games will not be carried on live television, but for the third consecutive season and the third time in school history, all of Maryland's 27 regular-season games are scheduled to be aired on live TV. The Terps' 2004-05 broadcast slate includes 11 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 on February 17, 2003, every game during the Terps' last two seasons were aired live.
Maryland's matchup with Syracuse marked only the third time in NCAA Tournament history, and the first time since 1995, that the previous two national champions faced each other. That game, which shared the same broadcast window with St. Joseph's vs. Texas Tech and Stanford vs. Alabama, rated as the sixth most-watched broadcast of the entire 2004 NCAA Tournament, and rated as the third most-watched broadcast not including the three Final Four games. More than nine million households were tuned in during that broadcast window.
Maryland's victory over Duke in the 2004 ACC Tournament title game was the most-watched basketball game during "Championship Week" on ESPN. During that week, ESPN and ESPN2 combined to air 56 total games, and the Maryland-Duke game rated No. 1.
Three of Maryland's games ranked in the Top 10 of all of ESPN's college basketball regular-season broadcasts, with two of those contests being played at Comcast Center. The Terps' Jan. 21 clash with Duke was No. 3 on the year, while North Carolina's trip to Comcast Center on Jan. 14 ranked eighth. The Terps victory at No. 1 Florida on Dec. 2 was No. 9 among regular season ESPN broadcasts.
The Terps' rivalry with Duke continues to make for popular viewing, as more than six million total households combined to watch the three matchups in 2003-04.
