Dec. 3, 2004
George Mason Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (No. 12 AP, No. 12 USA Today/ESPN) meets local rival George Mason on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 1 p.m. to open the 10th Annual BB&T Classic at Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center. The victor advances to Sunday's championship game to take on the winner of Saturday's later matchup featuring host team George Washington University and the No. 11/9 Michigan State Spartans. The tournament's games will be televised live regionally on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network and will air locally on UPN-20 (WDCA) in Washington, D.C., and WB-54 (WNUV) in the Baltimore area. Steve Buckhantz and Glenn Consor call the action while Smokin' Al Koken reports from the sidelines.
BB&T Game Schedule
Saturday, Dec. 4
No. 12/12 MARYLAND vs. George Mason, 1 p.m.
GW vs. No. 11/9 Michigan State, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 5
Consolation Game, 12:30 p.m.
Championship Game, 3:00 p.m.
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 Naismith, Wooden and Rupp National Player of the Year Award Watch Lists and Dick Vitale's All Rolls Royce Team. Sharpshooter and tenacious defender Chris McCray returns to complete one of the nation's top backcourts, while versatile Nik Caner-Medley and powerful big man Travis Garrison return in the post. Sophomore Ekene Ibekwe has assumed the Terps' fifth starting position, and has proven himself more than capable of handling his share of the inside duties. Ibekwe is one of five Terrapins averaging double-figure scoring (11.5 ppg) and is the Terps' second-leading rebounder at seven per game. He is coming off his first career double-double performance with 21 points (10-of-13 FGs) and 12 boards in Maryland's 69-64 loss at No. 25/23 Wisconsin.
Gary Williams is tied as the 14th-winningest active coach in America with an overall record of 525-294. His 318 victories at Maryland places him sixth all-time among ACC Coaches. Williams was inducted into the greater Washington, D.C., Sports Hall of Champions in the offseason, with Washington Sports & Entertainment's Abe Pollin and former Redskins great Darrell Green, and will be given the University of Maryland's highest alumni honor this spring when he is inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.
Maryland owns a 12-6 record in the BB&T Classic dating to the event's inception in 1995. The Terps look for their fifth BB&T title this weekend after winning the championship in 1996 and 1998 and earning back-to-back crowns in 2000 and 2001. The annual event at MCI Center benefits the Washington, D.C., Children's Charities Foundation.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
The BB&T Classic comes at a point during the Terps' schedule where Maryland could face three ranked teams in four games across 10 days. After a convincing 84-61 victory over then-No. 25/24 Memphis in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Springfield, Mass., the Terps fell on the road, 69-64, to No. 25/23 Wisconsin during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Terrapins could see No. 11/9 Michigan State if both teams advance to the BB&T Championship game.
The Terrapins experienced a similar stretch last season during this time, posting a home victory over then-No. 15/13 Wisconsin and beating No. 1/1 Florida on the road, in between losses to No. 17/24 Gonzaga and unranked West Virginia in the BB&T. During that stretch, the Terps defeated two of three ranked teams in a span of nine days, from Dec. 2-10.
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 NCAA Second Round and finished the season with a 20-12 record.
Maryland continued a current school record with a berth in last season's NCAA Tournament. Williams returned to his alma mater in 1989 and has guided the Terrapins to 11 straight NCAA Tournaments since 1994, making the Terrapins one of only five teams in the nation riding a streak as long.
The young Terrapins of 2004 earned the ACC's automatic berth by winning Maryland's first conference tournament title in 20 years. Maryland was 14-11 (5-9 ACC) on Feb. 28 following a home loss to Wake Forest before reeling off five-straight victories. The Terps won the last two regular-season ACC games vs. Virginia and No. 16/19 NC State and posted the trio of ranked wins in the ACC tourney over the No. 15/14 Demon Deacons, the No. 17/20 Wolfpack and No. 5/4 Duke. In all, Maryland earned seven victories over the Top 25 in 2003-04 -- the most since its school-record national championship run in 2002 (9) -- and played the second-toughest schedule in the nation. The Terps extended a school record of consecutive 20-win seasons to eight (1996-97 to 2003-04), winning six of their last seven games in 2004, and five straight headed into the NCAA Tournament.
Williams owns a career record of 525-294 overall, making him the 16th-winningest active coach in America. He is 318-166 in his 16th season as the head coach at Maryland and 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 26 NCAA Tournament victories -- ranking ninth among active coaches -- and is 22-10 at Maryland for a .688 NCAA winning percentage.
As a sophomore, John Gilchrist was the first player to lead the Terps in scoring (15.4 ppg) and assists (5.0 apg) since Walt Williams in the 1990-91 season, and the first point guard to lead Maryland in both categories since John Lucas in the 1973-74 season.
Gilchrist averaged 24.0 points per game, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists through three ACC Tournament games to become Maryland's third-ever tourney MVP (Albert King, 1980; Len Bias, 1984). He shot at a .634 clip from the field and .643 from 3-point range, with incredible efforts against Wake (16 pts, 6 asst, 5 rebs), NC State (30 pts, 7 asst, 4 rebs, 4 stls, 1 TO) and Duke (26 pts, 7 rebs, 6 asst).
In August, the 2004 ACC Champs embarked on a 12-day, five-game summer tour of Italy. The Terrapins posted a 3-2 record, averaging 98.6 points per game and a margin of victory of +13.0 ppg, downing a pair of professional Italian teams and posting a landslide victory over world-famous Kiev (Russia). The Terps visited Rome, Florence, Venice and Lake Como, exploring influential centers of culture and art while getting the chance to bond as a team.
On Deck
The Terps face either No. 10/9 Michigan State or George Washington on Sunday in the BB&T Classic Consolation (12:30 p.m.) or Championship (3 p.m.) game.
One week later, the Terps return home for the first time since Nov. 23 when they take on UNC Asheville on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. The game will be televised regionally on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network, airing locally on UPN-20 (WDCA) in Washington, D.C., and WB-54 (WNUV) in Baltimore area.
