Feb. 26, 2004
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (14-10, 5-8 ACC) takes on No. 11 Wake Forest (18-6, 8-5 ACC) on Saturday when the Demon Deacons visit Comcast Center at 1 p.m. The Terrapins enter the game looking to improve their resume for the postseason, as a victory over Wake would give the Terps a sixth ACC victory, a fourth win over a ranked opponent and a fifth victory over a team with a top-50 RPI. For the second-straight year, each of the Terps' 27 regular-season games are scheduled to be televised live - Maryland meets Wake Forest in a nationally/regionally televised contest on ABC, with Terry Gannon and Len Elmore - Maryland's all-time leading rebounder (1,053) - calling the action. Elmore is a 1978 graduate (English) of the University of Maryland and is the only player in school history to amass more than 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Quality conference and non-conference wins have earned the Terps a RPI rating of 33 and a strength of schedule rating of seven. The Terps own three victories on the year against opponents ranked in the Top 25, and seven wins over teams with a RPI of 65 or better, while Maryland has not fallen to a team with an RPI higher than 68. The matchup with Wake Forest gives the Terrapins an 11th game against ranked teams in 2003-04, the most in the ACC.
The Terrapins bounced back from three-straight losses with a 21-point victory over Clemson, 70-49 on Tuesday. Maryland's defense held the Tigers to 31.4 percent shooting, while blocking a season-high tying 11 shots and forcing 22 turnovers. Sophomore floor general John Gilchrist scored 19 points, with six assists and five steals, to lead four Terps in double-figures. Rookie guard D.J. Strawberry, making his first career start, netted 15 points with five rebounds, three steals and two blocks, while sophomore Chris McCray scored 14 on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed five boards in a reserve role. Senior center Jamar Smith totaled 10 points and seven rebounds, and had some inside help from freshman Ekene Ibekwe, who tallied six points, corralled a career-high tying 10 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Ibekwe leads the Terps and is the top shot-blocking freshman in the ACC with a 1.4 rejections per game average.
Wake Forest has won five straight games entering Saturday's contest, including a 90-87, come-from-behind overtime affair against Florida State on Wednesday. Sophomore guard Justin Gray, who leads the Deacons in scoring at 16.8 ppg, netted a career-high 21 as Wake overcame a 17-point deficit for the victory. Gray is averaging an ACC-leading 21.9 ppg in the month of February. Against the Seminoles, fellow guards Chris Paul and Taron Downey scored 21 and 17 points, respectively, and sophomore center Eric Williams contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Terrapins lead in the all-time series by a 56-52 margin after taking eight of the last 10 games since Jan. 19, 2000, and winning by an average of 14.0 ppg during that stretch. The Terrapins have won the last five meetings in College Park, including a 90-67 snow-delayed victory at Comcast Center last season.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
The Terrapins are 35-14 (.714) in their last 49 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 130-103 in ACC regular-season play in his 15 seasons at Maryland.
In 26 seasons, Williams owns a career record of 516-291 overall (.639), making him the 16th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories. He is 309-163 (.655) in 15 seasons as the head coach at Maryland as 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 10 ranked opponents during the 2003-04 season to date, posting 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 in January was Maryland's 53rd victory vs. the Top 25 since Williams took over the program in the 1989-90 season.
Saturday's matchup with No. 11/11 Wake Forest marks Maryland's ACC-leading 11th Top 25 opponent of the season. Florida State has faced 10 foes in the Top 25, followed by Clemson (9), Georgia Tech (8), North Carolina (8), Wake (8), Duke (7), Virginia (7), , and NC State (6). Five ACC teams are in this week's Top 25 and the conference boasts the nation's top RPI with each school ranked No. 63 or better.
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 guided the Terrapins to 10 straight NCAA Tournament berths since 1994 - 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. The Terps' Feb. 19 tilt at Duke ranked as ESPN's top-rated college basketball telecast of all of last year, and the matchup from this year rated as the second-most watched to date.
On Deck
The Terps hit the road for their last regular-season away game when they travel to No. 14/19 NC State on Wednesday, March 3. The 9 p.m. game will be televised on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network.
Maryland hosts Virginia in the final home game of the year on Sunday, March 7 at 8 p.m. on Senior Night. The game will air on FOX Sports Net.
