Jan. 30, 2005

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - A stellar defensive effort and a balanced attack enabled rejuvenated Maryland to sustain the momentum created by its upset win over second-ranked Duke.

Nik Caner-Medley scored 19 points and Chris McCray had 16 to lead four Terrapins in double figures Sunday in a 79-71 victory over No. 22 Georgia Tech. The Terrapins (13-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) let a 10-point halftime lead dwindle to three before holding the Yellow Jackets scoreless for nearly 6 minutes.

"We won the game with our defense," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "We were shaky at times offensively in running some plays, but at the same time we didn't give Georgia Tech too many good looks."

The Yellow Jackets (12-6, 3-4) shot 33 percent from the field in the second half and finished 4-for-20 from 3-point range. Georgia Tech, which was seeking to build on a 102-101 overtime win over No. 5 Wake Forest on Thursday, instead lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 0-3 on the road in the ACC.

"It's OK not to shoot the ball well sometimes," Tech coach Paul Hewitt said, "but I think we had too many breakdowns defensively in the second half." Maryland recorded its second win over a ranked opponent in a five-day span. The Terrapins lost three of five before upsetting the Blue Devils on the road Wednesday.

"We weren't thinking at all about the Duke game," Caner-Medley insisted. "The Duke game, tonight, was irrelevant." Point guard John Gilchrist scored 15 points and had only one turnover in 40 minutes; Ekene Ibekwe had 14 points and nine rebounds; and Travis Garrison grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for the Terrapins.

"You know, it's nice if Nik can get 25 every game, but in college basketball you can take one guy out of the game," Williams said. "Some guys stepped up and came through, and Nik still had a good night offensively."

Said Caner-Medley: "I think if you can get a lot of guys on the board scoring, it makes everybody feel good. And we played good defense." After a jumper by Gilchrist put Maryland up 63-52 with 9:30 left, Jarrett Jack made two foul shots and a 10-footer to ignite an 8-0 run that got Georgia Tech to 63-60. Ibekwe then made a three-point play, and the Yellow Jackets came up empty on four straight possessions before Caner-Medley hit a jumper off the glass for a 68-60 lead with 3:31 left.

Georgia Tech went 5:46 without scoring after cutting the deficit to three.

"I thought we going to be able to pull it out," Jack said. "We were in some foul trouble though, and struggled from the field." Jack shot 3-for-14 and Will Bynum, who totaled 58 points in his previous two games, scored 10 on 3-for-12 shooting. Isma'il Muhammad led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points and Luke Schenscher had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Tech played a seventh straight game without leading scorer B.J. Elder, who has a strained left hamstring.

Maryland built a 27-15 rebounding edge and limited the Yellow Jackets to 1-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc in taking a 44-34 halftime lead. After Caner-Medley scored 11 of Maryland's first 18 points, a three-point play by Gilchrist and a free throw by James Gist made it 22-14. It was 31-25 before a driving layup by Sterling Ledbetter and two foul shots by Gilchrist put the Terrapins up by 10.

"We just took some shots out of character early in the game," Hewitt said. "That gave them a chance to get ahead of us."