Dec. 5, 2004

Recap |  Final Stats |  Quotes

• The Maryland basketball team (No. 12 AP/No. 12 USA Today/ESPN) was upended in the championship game of the 10th annual BB&T Classic, falling to local rivals George Washington 101-92 Sunday afternoon at MCI Center in Washington, D.C in the highest scoring game in BB&T history. The two local rivals have traded wins and losses in their past seven meetings (all in BB&T games) with Maryland winning four, but the Colonials now only trail 35-28 in the all-time series.

• The Terrapins (4-2) are now 13-7 in BB&T history, while GW evened their all-time tournament mark to 10-10 by capturing their 3rd tournament crown in six trips to the final game. It is the school's first BB&T crown since the 1999 classic.

• John Gilchrist had a team-high 23 points and was one of 11 players to reach double figures. GW's T.J. Thompson led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from long range. J.R. Pinnock poured in 22 points as the Colonials shot 53.6 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from beyond the arc. The last time a Maryland opponent scored more than 100 points was in the 2000 NCAA Tournament, when UCLA defeated the Terps 105-70.

• Five other Terrapins broke the double-digit plateau - Nik Caner-Medley had his second consecutive solid outing, racking up 16 points and 7 rebounds; Travis Garrison muscled in 12 points to go along with 7 boards; freshman James Gist poured in a career-high 12 points, all in the second half when he shot a perfect 6-of-6; Ekene Ibekwe scored 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds and D.J. Strawberry contributed 10 points.

• Gilchrist and Caner-Medley were named to the all-tournament team, as voted on by the media. They were joined by Michigan State's Maurice Ager, GW's Pinnock and Thompson, who was named tournament MVP.

• Maryland shot over 50 percent from the field for the second straight game, finishing 36-of-71. The Terrapins also outrebounded their opponents 42-36, getting at least five boards from each starter.

• Several BB&T records were broken in this year's championship, including that for most combined points scored in a game with 193. That eclipses the previous record of 192 set in 2002 when then No. 2 Texas topped George Washington 100-92 in a first round game. The Colonials' 197 points over two games also breaks a tournament high of 192 set by Texas in 2002.

• George Washington established an up-tempo pace early in the game, and it paid off midway through the half. Strawberry drove the lane and scored while being fouled to close Maryland to 17-14 with 11:38 remaining. But the Colonials went on an 11-3 run over the next two minutes, behind five points from Thompson and built a 28-17 lead. Maryland, however, went on their own spurt over the next several minutes and closed to within four on several occasions, but GW was able to come up with loose balls and benefited from fortunate bounces to take a 49-41 lead into the locker room.

• The first half was marked by sloppy play with 23 combined turnovers (13 by GW), but the Colonials had exceptional shooting, going 20-of-34 from the floor, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. They also outrebounded Maryland 23-18. Thompson had 13 points to pace the Colonials. For the Terps, Caner-Medley carried over his strong play on Saturday to the championship by scoring 8 of Maryland's first 12 points, and finishing the half with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Gilchrist had 10 at the break to go along with 4 assists.

• The Terrapins slowly chipped away at the Colonials' lead early in the second half, and regained the lead for the first time since the opening four minutes on a follow-slam by Gist with 14:06 remaining in the game. Thompson's ensuing three-pointer 10 seconds later gave the Colonials a lead they would not relinquish.

• After Maryland knotted the score at 63 with 11:56 remaining, GW went on a 11-2 run to open up a nine-point lead. But the Terps would not go down quietly, closing to within 83-82 on Gilchrist's driving lay-in with just under four minutes remaining before GW pulled away in the closing moments of the game.