Jan. 7, 2005
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland men's basketball team (No. 22 AP, No. 21 USA Today/ESPN) looks to take the momentum of its five-game win streak on the road as the Terps begin the heart of their ACC schedule in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Saturday at noon. The Terrapins take on the No. 3/4 Tar Heels in a contest that will be televised nationally on ESPN. Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale call the action, while Doris Burke reports from the sidelines.
The Terrapins have won five of their last seven matchups with the Tar Heels, and two of their last three meetings at the Smith Center, despite trailing 109-53 in the all-time series that dates to 1924. Terrapin head coach Gary Williams holds a 3-1 advantage over Tar Heel mentor Roy Williams in four head-to-head meetings, including two Maryland-Kansas matchups and two Maryland-UNC contests.
2004 ACC Tournament MVP John Gilchrist has averaged 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals over the last six games. He currently ranks in the Top 10 among ACC players in scoring (6th, 17.0 points per game), assists (3rd, 6.3 apg), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.2), steals (4th, 26) and field goal percentage (T-9th, .493). He is also listed among league leaders in 3-point percentage (11th, .419) and free throw percentage (14th, .673). 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 (5.7 rpg, 19th in the ACC).
Sharpshooter and tenacious defender Chris McCray (13.4 ppg, .560 FG pct., .920 FT pct.) completes one of the nation's top backcourts. One of the most consistent Terrapins through 11 contests, McCray has reached double-figure scoring in all but two games this season and has been elected one of the team's co-captains. Versatile forward Nik Caner-Medley (14.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .492 FG pct.) has benefitted from 10 pounds of added muscle in the offseason, and powerful big man Travis Garrison (10.5 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 9.3 ppg and has been one of five Terrapins close to double-figures all year. Ibekwe's 7.5 rebounds per game lead the squad and ranks eighth among ACC players. After swatting six shots two games ago, his 2.1 blocks per game average is a team-best and rates fourth in the league.
The Terrapins put together a solid team effort to down Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday, 85-53, capturing their fifth-consecutive victory and closing out a perfect five-game homestand. Gilchrist once again led the Terrapins with 17 points, coming up only three shy of what would have been a sixth-straight game with 20 points or more. Caner-Medley also added 17 with six rebounds, while Garrison netted 15 to go along with seven rebounds. Ibekwe and high-flying rookie forward James Gist also grabbed seven boards apiece to help the ACC's top rebounding squad to a 52-38 advantage on the glass. The Terps registered a season-high 17 steals and forced 24 Mount turnovers.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
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 mMajor League Baseball back to the nation's capitol, 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 531-295 overall, making him the 14th-winningest active coach in America. He is 324-167 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.
Williams is only two wins away from tying former Virginia head coach Terry Holland as the fifth-winningest ACC basketball coach in history. Holland totaled 326 win as the Cavaliers' mentor from 1974 to 1990.
The Terps-Tar Heels matchup features two of the most potent offenses in the nation. UNC leads all of Division I with an average of 92.7 points per game, while the Terps are currently third in the country with an 88.1 average. The Terrapins hold advantages in terms of field goal percentage defense (.383 vs. .406) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.304 vs. .346), and Maryland will need to execute on defense to stop the Ter Heels, who lead the ACC in both field goal pct. (.526) and 3-point shooting (.439).
As a team, the Terps rank among ACC leaders in several statistical categories: rebounding (45.2 rpg, 1st), scoring offense (88.1 ppg, 2nd), rebounding margin (+7.8, 2nd), blocked shots (7.1 bpg, 2nd), free throw percentage (.714, 2nd), field goal percentage defense (.383, 3rd), assists (17.6, 3rd), , 3-point field goal percentage defense (.304, 3rd), steals (10.9 spg, 4th) and margin of victory (+19.8, 4th).
Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, ranking second in the 11-team ACC with a .714 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, 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.
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
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.
The Terps return home to take on Temple on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. That game will be televised on ESPN2.
