Jan. 28, 2005
Georgia Tech Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (12-5, 3-3 ACC) returns home to the friendly confines of Comcast Center, playing host to the No. 22/21 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-5, 3-3 ACC) on Sunday. The Terps and Ramblin' Wreck square off at 5:30 p.m., each coming off a pair of major victories. Tech downed Wake Forest on Thursday at home, 102-101 in overtime, while the Terrapins toppled Duke in Durham on Wednesday, 75-66. Maryland and Georgia Tech square off in a national televised contest on FOX Sports Net, and locally on Comcast SportsNet. Tim Brando and Mike Gminski call the action while Dwayne Ballen reports from the sidelines.
The Terrapins bounced back from Sunday's home loss to NC State with a tremendous victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the third for Maryland on Duke's home floor in the last six seasons. Nik Caner-Medley led the Terps in scoring for the fifth-straight game, and for the eighth time this season, with 25 points while shooting 8-of-13 from the field and nailing three 3-pointers. Caner-Medley, who also contributed five rebounds, four steals and three assists in a season-high 37 minutes, made all six of his free throws despite the hostile environment and blocked a shot as well. Ekene Ibekwe came off the bench to contribute 15 points and nine boards, combining with fellow big man Travis Garrison to make nine of 10 free throws in the game's final 1:01. John Gilchrist was solid at Cameron, scoring 10 with nine boards, three assists and two steals. Mike Jones and Will Bowers each earned their first career starts for the Terps, each proving to be pressure performers. Bowers grabbed a career-high tying seven rebounds, scored four points and blocked two shots, while Jones made a pair of critical field goals and played solid defense all game.
Georgia Tech, ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll and No. 21 by the coaches, shares an identical overall and conference record with the Terps after its overtime win over Wake Forest in Atlanta on Thursday. Junior point guard Jarrett Jack, Tech's leading scorer (15.9 ppg), scored 23 points and made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to win the game for the Jackets. Senior Will Bynum (13.1 ppg) netted a career-high 30 points and forward Isma'il Muhammed (10.1 ppg), one of the ACC's most athletic players and best slam dunkers, added 17 and a career-high six assists. Tech is an inside-outside threat with their group of guards, Muhammed and 7-1 center Luke Schenscher (9.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg).
The Terrapins have won 12 of the last 17 meetings overall, and nine of the last 10 matchups in College Park. Georgia Tech holds a 33-28 advantage in the all-time series, winning both meetings a season ago and the last three contests overall. The Terps are 1-1 against Georgia Tech at Comcast Center.
Terrapin head coach Gary Williams is now in fifth place outright on the ACC's all-time wins list with a record of 327-170 as Maryland's head coach, surpassing former Virginia head coach Terry Holland ( 326 wins, 1974-90). The victory also placed Williams fourth outright in terms of victories over ACC league teams (135), as he surpassed former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins, who totaled 134 from 1982-2000 with the Yellow Jackets.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Under head coach Gary Williams, Maryland has defeated 59 Top 25 teams, including No. 25/24 Memphis (Nov. 26, 84-61) and No. 2 Duke (Jan. 26, 75-66) this season. The Terps have downed 23 Top 10 opponents, 15 Top 5 foes and the No. 1 team in the nation five times under Williams. The active winningest coach in the NCAA over top-ranked opponents, Williams owns six career victories against No. 1, with five coming at Maryland and one while the head coach at Ohio State. Williams has led the Terps to victory over the No. 3, No. 2 or No. 1 team in the nation in each of the last six seasons.
Terrapin junior forward Nik Caner-Medley leads the Terps in scoring at 17.4 ppg, after netting 21 points at Wake Forest (Jan. 11), 36 at home vs. Temple (Jan. 15) 26 vs. Virginia (Jan. 19), 15 against NC State (Jan. 23) and 25 at Duke (Jan. 26). He is averaging 24.4 ppg across the last five games, shooting .571 from the field while grabbing 7.8 rebounds per game, dishing 2.6 assists, making 2.0 steals and rejecting 1.3 shots. Caner-Medley has led the Terps in scoring eight times this season, has registered more than 20 points in four of the past five games and posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds two games ago.
Junior point guard John Gilchrist is averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds over the last 12 games, all while shooting 50 percent from the field and hitting at a 43 percent mark from long-range. He currently is second in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.02) and third in assists (5.5 apg). Gilchrist, a preseason Naismith and Wooden All-American, is 20th in the league in scoring at 14.1 ppg, seventh in steals (1.9 spg) and is tied for 23rd in rebounding (4.9 rpg).
Sophomore D.J. Strawberry, who was among the ACC's steals leaders with 24 on the year, will miss the remainder of the basketball season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Starting two-guard Chris McCray (12.0 ppg, .463 FG pct., .909 FT pct.) missed the Temple game with a bruised tailbone, but came back to action against Virginia, NC State and Duke, combining to score 30 points (10.0 ppg) with 19 rebounds (6.3 rpg), seven assists (2.3 apg) and four steals (1.3 spg). Smooth-shooting sophomore guard Mike Jones earned his first career start against Duke and has averaged 7.8 points in the last five games, shooting both 46 percent from the floor and 46 percent from long range. Jones burned Temple for 21 points (Jan. 15), connecting on a career-high four 3-pointers.
This Terrapin squad, which as a team has made comeback after comeback over the last 14 months, bounced back from a pair of losses on the road in the ACC by winning three of the next four games. In the games against then-No. 4/3 Wake (Jan. 11) and then-No. 3/4 North Carolina (Jan. 8), the Terps combined to shoot eight percent from 3-point range (3-of-36), 62 percent from the free throw line (26-of-42) and grabbed an average of only 32 rebounds. In their three wins since (Temple, Virginia and No. 2 Duke), the Terps have combined to shoot 33 percent from long range (15-for-45), 77 percent from the charity stripe (64-for-83) and have averaged 42 boards per game.
At 83.3 points per game, the Terps own one of the most potent scoring offenses in the nation. Maryland is sixth in the NCAA (Jan. 24), trailing only North Carolina, Washington, Niagara, Wake Forest and Louisville in terms of scoring output. The Terps are ranked third in the ACC in scoring offense, behind only UNC and Wake. The Terps outscore their opponents by an average of 11 points per game.
Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, ranking third in the 11-team ACC with a .713 mark from the line after finishing ninth (.631) in 2003-04. Chris McCray is 11th in the nation and ranks in the league with a .909 (40-for-44) mark from the line.
Last March, Williams led his Terrapins to the 2004 ACC Tournament championship with a victory over Duke, 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.
On Deck
Two road games follow for the Terrapins, beginning with a quick turnaround trip to Clemson. Maryland takes on the Tigers at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1, before traveling to new ACC foe Miami on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m.
The Terps return home to face their other new ACC opponent, Virginia Tech, on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The 9 p.m. matchup will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.
