Jan. 18, 2005
Virginia Game Notes in PDF Format
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ATTENTION TERP FANS! Tonight's game vs. UVa is still on as scheduled. Tip-off is slated for 9:00 p.m. Please travel safely to and from Comcast Center. Make plans to arrive early! Click here for driving directions and alternate routes to campus.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland men's basketball team looks to take its winning momentum back into conference play as the Terrapins play host to Virginia on Wednesday at 9 p.m. The Terps host their ACC border rival in the second contest of a three-game homestand, looking to protect their home court as the league schedule begins to heat up. The contest 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 the Baltimore area. Former Maryland football linebacker Tim Brant (Journalism `73) and longtime national college hoops analyst and former Wake Forest standout Billy Packer call the action.
Terrapin head coach Gary Williams, who is one of two ACC mentors to have captured the NCAA men's basketball title and who currently owns the second-most victories among all current league coaches, would reach two milestones with a win on Wednesday. A victory would tie Williams with former Virginia head coach Terry Holland as the fifth-winningest ACC basketball coach in history. Williams' current record with the Terrapins is 325-169, and Holland totaled 326 wins as the Cavaliers' mentor from 1974-1990. Williams would also move into a fourth-place tie with former Georgia Tech head man Bobby Cremins in terms of wins in ACC conference games. Williams currently boasts 133 wins at Maryland over teams in the ACC, while Cremins totaled 134 from 1982-2000 with the Yellow Jackets.
The Terrapins bounced back from a pair of ACC road losses to Top 5 teams with a gritty, 80-69 victory over Temple at Comcast Center on Saturday. Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley lifted the Terps with a career-high 35 points, becoming the first Maryland player since Joe Smith in 1995 (40 pts. vs. Duke, March 1, 1995) to put forth such an onslaught on the offensive end. Caner-Medley, who has scored in double-figures in seven consecutive games and in 12 of 14 games this season, also added nine rebounds (six offensive), two assists and a pair of steals. Sophomore Mike Jones came off the bench for a season-high 21 points, nailing four 3-pointers and hitting 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, John Gilchrist was solid at the point with five assists and three steals in 37 minutes, including a lob to Caner-Medley for an alley-oop dunk to close out the contest.
Gilchrist has averaged 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals over the last nine games, all while shooting 55 percent from the field and hitting at a 46 percent mark from long-range. He currently ranks in the Top 10 among ACC players in assists (3rd, 5.7 apg), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.2), steals (4th, 30) and field goal percentage (10th, .493), and is 17th in the league in scoring at 14.6 ppg. Gilchrist, a preseason Naismith and Wooden All-American, is currently fourth on the Terrapin squad, and 24th in the conference, on the boards (5.0 rpg).
Sophomore D.J. Strawberry, who is among the ACC's steals leaders with 24 on the season, started in the backcourt against the Owls for junior Chris McCray (12.5 ppg, .484 FG pct., .909 FT pct.), who was sidelined with a bruised tailbone. Caner-Medley (16.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, .521 FG pct., .764 FT pct.) is currently the Terps' scoring leader, and powerful big man Travis Garrison (10.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg) continues to put up solid numbers in the post.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
The Terrapins, noted for their determination, character and ability to continuously come back, look to continue to rebound during this three-game homestand after coming off the toughest ACC road trip in 17 seasons. The Terps' daunting task of facing No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 Wake Forest consecutively on the road had not been equaled since Georgia Tech played at No. 3 UNC on Jan. 30, 1988, and at No. 4 Duke on four days later. Since those two games, then-No. 8 Georgia Tech fell at North Carolina, 91-69 (Jan. 12), while UNC in turn was topped by Wake, 95-82 (Jan. 15).
In the games against then-No. 4/3 Wake and then-No. 3/4 North Carolina, the Terps combined to shoot 42 percent from the field (56-of-132), eight percent from 3-point range (3-of-36) and 62 percent from the free throw line (26-of-42). Against Temple, the Terps bounced back by shooting 48 percent from the field (25-of-52), 38 percent from long range (6-of-16) and 71 percent from the charity stripe (24-of-34). The Terrapins averaged only 32 rebounds in their trip to Tobacco Road and were beat on the glass by an average of 18, but came back to outrebound a sizeable and physical Temple squad by three, grabbing 38 boards.
At 85.0 points per game, the Terps own one of the most potent scoring offenses in the nation. At the time of the last national ranking (Jan. 10), the Terps trailed only North Carolina, Wake Forest and Washington in terms of scoring output.
As a team, the Terps rank among ACC leaders in several statistical categories: rebounding (42.8 rpg, 1st), scoring offense (85.0 ppg, 3rd), blocked shots (6.4 bpg, 3rd), assists (16.7, 3rd), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.311, 3rd), field goal percentage defense (.403, 4th), steals (10.9 spg, 4th) and turnover margin (+3.64, 4th).
Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, ranking fifth in the 11-team ACC with a .701 mark from the line after finishing ninth (.631) in 2003-04. Chris McCray is tied for ninth in the nation and second in the league with a .909 (30-for-33) mark from the line.
Head coach Gary Williams was named one of Washingtonian Magazine's "Washingtonians of the Year" for 2004 in the publication's January, 2005, issue. He joins 16 others on the list, including D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, who recently brought Major League Baseball back to the nation's capital, and Tim Russert of NBC's Meet the Press. Williams was inducted as part of the inaugural class in the Washington, D.C., Sports Hall of Champions this past September, and will be inducted into the University of Maryland's Alumni Hall of Fame in the spring, receiving the university's greatest alumni honor.
Williams owns a career record of 532-297 overall, making him the 14th-winningest active coach in America. He is 325-169 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.
Last March, 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 NCAAs since 1994, making the Terrapins one of only five teams in the nation -- and the only school in the ACC -- riding a streak as long.
On Deck
NC State closes out the three-game Terrapin homestand on Sunday, Jan. 23. The Terps and Wolfpack battle in a nationally televised game on FOX Sports Net. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Terps then hit the road to renew their rivalry with the currently undefeated Duke Blue Devils. Maryland faces Duke for the first time this season at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 9 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
