Jan. 3, 2005
Mount St. Mary's Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland men's basketball team looks to conclude a five-game homestand with a fifth-straight victory as the Terps play host to Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday. The Terrapins, who currently sit in a tie atop the ACC standings, take on the in-state Mountaineers at 8 p.m. at Comcast Center in a game that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet. Joe Beninati and Glenn Consor call the action.
The Terps are 4-0 all-time against the Mount, with three victories coming during the Gary Williams Era at Maryland. Williams is 32-1 (.970) vs. Old Line State opponents as the head coach of the Terrapins, and has not lost to an in-state foe since his first season in College Park (Coppin State, 70-63, Dec. 12, 1989).
2004 ACC Tournament MVP John Gilchrist has scored at least 20 points in each of the last five games, becoming the first Terp to do so since a five-game offensive explosion by Juan Dixon in 2002. He currently ranks in the Top 10 among ACC players in scoring (6th, 17.0 points per game), assists (2nd, 6.6 apg), assist-to-turnover ratio (1st, 2.44), steals (4th, 23) and 3-point field goal percentage (9th, .410). Gilchrist, a preseason Naismith and Wooden All-American, leads the Terps in each of those categories and is currently third on the squad in rebounding (6.0 rpg). Over the past five games the junior point guard is averaging 22.8 points, 6.2 boards and 5.6 assists.
Sharpshooter and tenacious defender Chris McCray (13.9 ppg, .559 FG pct., .920 FT pct.) completes one of the nation's top backcourts. One of the most consistent Terrapins through 10 contests, McCray has reached double-figure scoring in all but one game this season and has been elected one of the team's co-captains. Versatile forward Nik Caner-Medley (14.6ppg, 4.8 rpg, .491 FG pct.) has benefitted from 10 lbs. of added muscle in the offseason, and powerful big man Travis Garrison (10.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg) continues to put up solid numbers 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. He is averaging 9.6 ppg and has been one of five Terrapins averaging close to double-figures all year. Ibekwe's 7.5 rebounds per game lead the squad and tie him for eighth among ACC players. After swatting six shots vs. Liberty, his 2.2 rejections per game average is a team-best and ranks fourth in the league.
Career and season-highs abounded for the Terrapins in a 112-68 victory over Liberty before the New Year. Gilchrist drilled a career-high tying five 3-pointers and led four double-digit Terrapins with 28 points, Caner-Medley scored 20 with a career-high tying five steals and rookie James Gist netted a career-high 14 points with a career-best eight rebounds. The Terps shot a season-best 54.2 percent from the field while limiting Liberty to 39.1 percent shooting, and the 112 points were the most for UM since netting the same amount against UNC and Virginia in 2002.
The Terps are 106-2 at home against non-conference foes since the Williams Era began in 1989-90, and have currently won 16-straight games at Comcast Center against non-ACC foes.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
As a team, the Terps rank among ACC leaders in several statistical categories: rebounding (44.5 rpg, 1st), assists (18.2, 2nd), scoring offense (88.4 ppg, 2nd), blocked shots (7.3 bpg, 2nd), free throw percentage (.703, 2nd), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.303, 2nd), steals (10.7 spg, 4th), margin of victory (+18.6, 4th), rebounding margin (+7.2, 4th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.14, T-4th).
Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, ranking second in the 11-team ACC with a .703 mark from the line after finishing ninth (.631) in 2003-04. Chris McCray is second in the league with a .920 (23-for-25) mark from the line. He was a perfect 18-for-18 through the Terps' first seven games of the season. As a team the Terps led the league for several weeks.
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 530-295 overall, making him the 14th-winningest active coach in America. He is 323-167 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. He leads the Terps in scoring, assists and steals this season and for a brief time in mid-December owned team-high rebounding numbers as well.
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 hit the road as the meat of the ACC conference schedule begins Jan. 8 with a visit to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a matchup with the Tar Heels. Maryland meets up with UNC at noon on Saturday on ESPN.
Life on the road continues on Tuesday, Jan. 11, when the Terps travel to Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 9 p.m. on the JP network.
