Feb. 18, 2005
Virginia Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (15-8, 6-6 ACC) looks to rebound on the road as the Terrapins travel for an ACC matchup with border-rival Virginia (13-10, 4-8 ACC). The Terrapins, currently locked into a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference, look for their third season-sweep of Virginia in the last four years, and a second-straight win in the Cavaliers' University Hall, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Earlier in the season on Jan. 19, Maryland posted an 82-68 victory over Virginia in College Park. The return game on the ACC schedule will be televised nationally on CBS, with Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery calling the action.
The Terrapins, who were named ESPN.com's team of the week after downing Virginia Tech and Duke at home, could not keep the momentum going on Wednesday and fell to NC State, 82-63, in Raleigh. Nik Caner-Medley scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, and grabbed six rebounds (four offensive) in the losing effort. Travis Garrison scored all 11 of his points in the second period, and Chris McCray netted 11 as well, with two assists and two steals. Rookie forward James Gist tallied six with six rebounds in only 17 minutes for the Terps, who trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half but reduced the lead to seven in the second period with 7:16 to play. For the game, the Terps were outdone by allowing NC State a 44 percent shooting performance from the field and a 43 percent mark from long range. The Terps were outrebounded for only the seventh time all season (39-33).
The Terrapins are currently the No. 30 team in the latest RPI report listed on ESPN.com, with the ninth-strongest schedule in the nation. Maryland owns the third-toughest schedule among all ACC teams and is the fourth-ranked team in the league according to the report. The Terps have notched four victories over the Top 50 RPI teams, including Maryland's Jan. 19 home win over Virginia (No. 44), its Jan. 26 and Feb. 12 wins over Duke (No. 9) and its Jan. 30 victory over Georgia Tech (No. 49). Only one of the Terps' losses have come to a team outside the RPI Top 100 (Clemson, No. 103, Feb. 1).
The Cavaliers won three straight ACC games before falling at North Carolina on Wednesday, 85-61. Sophomore swingman Gary Forbes nailed three 3-pointers and scored a game-high tying 23 points against the Tar Heels, improving his scoring average in conference games to 11.2 ppg. Senior big man Elton Brown, the Wahoos' second-leading scorer (14.1 ppg) and ACC's third-rated rebounder (8.6 rpg), netted 11 and grabbed four boards in the loss. UVa's leading scorer, senior Devin Smith (16.5 ppg, .474 FG pct., .352 3-pt. FG pct.) was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting against the Tar Heels.
The Terrapins lead in the all-time series, 98-63, including Maryland's home victory over Virginia earlier in the season. Maryland swept the regular-season series in 2002 and 2004, sandwiching a Virginia sweep in 2003. The Terrapins have won three-straight, 11 of the last 15 matchups overall, and four of the last six meetings in Charlottesville.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Terrapin head coach Gary Williams -- who received his second national coach of the week honor from ESPN's Dick Vitale after leading the Terps to victories over Virginia Tech and No. 7/8 Duke -- is the conference's second-active winningest head man with an overall record of 537-301 and a 330-173 record as Maryland's head coach. Williams is in fifth place outright on the ACC's all-time wins list, is ranked fourth all-time in victories over ACC league teams (138) and is one of only two mentors currently in the league that have captured the NCAA title. He is also the ACC's second-longest tenured active head coach (16 seasons).
Under Williams, Maryland has defeated 61 Top 25 teams, including No. 25/24 Memphis (Nov. 26, 84-61), No. 2/2 Duke (Jan. 26, 75-66), No. 22/21 Georgia Tech (Jan. 30, 79-71) and No. 7/8 Duke (Feb. 12, 99-92 OT) this season. The Terps have downed 24 Top 10 opponents, 15 Top 5 foes and the No. 1 team in the nation five times under Maryland's mentor. 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 guard Chris McCray has been one of the most consistent Terrapins over the course of 2004-05, always charged with guarding the opponent's best perimeter player while remaining among the ACC's Top 25 scorers all year long. In the last five games, McCray is averaging 16.2 points , 3.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He has fired at a 43 percent clip from the field and has made 39 percent of his 3-pointers as well across that stretch, all while sinking 96 percent of his free throws. McCray currently leads the ACC and is in second place nationally, only behind SW Missouri State's Blake Ahearn (95.3) in free throw shooting, hitting at 93.4 percent (71-of-76). Duke's J.J. Redick is second in the ACC (93.3).
Terrapin junior forward Nik Caner-Medley, named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week by Andy Katz after the wins over Duke and Georgia Tech two weeks ago, leads the Terps in scoring at 16.6 ppg. He is averaging 19.0 ppg across the last 11 contests, shooting .478 from the field while grabbing 7.0 rebounds per game, dishing 2.1 assists and making 1.4 steals. Caner-Medley has led the Terps in scoring 11 times this season, and has registered more than 20 points in eight games on the year, including five of the past 10 contests. Caner-Medley posted his third career double-double (15 pts, 10 rebs) vs. NC State on Jan. 23.
Junior point guard and ACC Player of the Week John Gilchrist is averaging 15.0 points, 7.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds over the last three games, including a 19-point, 10-assist double-double against Virginia Tech (Feb. 8) and a 19-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist performance against Duke (Feb. 12). Gilchrist's career-high 10 assists against the Hokies helped him become the first Terp to post a double-double in scoring and assists since Steve Blake in 2003, while his near triple-double against the Blue Devils would have made him the first Maryland player since Derrick Lewis in 1987 (Feb. 17 vs. UMBC; 32 pts, 10 rebs, 10 blks) to accomplish that feat. Gilchrist currently ranks second in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) and third in assists (5.6 apg).
Sophomore D.J. Strawberry, who was listed among the ACC's steals leaders, will miss the remainder of the basketball season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Smooth-shooting sophomore guard Mike Jones and junior combo-guard Sterling Ledbetter have stepped up in his place. Jones scored 15 points with five rebounds in only 18 minutes against Duke (Feb. 12), at one point staging his own personal 8-0 scoring run. Jones is averaging 8.4 ppg across the last 11 games, and his 11.0 ppg average in the last four contests includes a 64.0 shooting performance from the field and a 42 percent success rate from beyond the arc. Ledbetter has proven to be solid at the point or two-guard positions, scoring a career-high 10 points against Clemson (Feb. 1), and averaging 15.1 minutes in the last six contests.
At 82.1 points per game, the Terps own one of the most potent scoring offenses in the nation. The Terps are ranked third in the ACC in scoring offense, behind only UNC (90.4 ppg) and Wake (85.5 ppg). As of Feb. 14, the Terps were sixth in all of NCAA Division I.
Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, ranking third in the 11-team ACC with a .723 mark from the line after finishing ninth (.631) in 2003-04. McCray is second in the nation and first in the ACC.
On Deck
The Terrapins return home on Tuesday to take on Clemson, looking to avenge an 88-73 loss (Feb. 1). The 8 p.m. game will be televised on the Raycom/JP network.
