Feb. 22, 2005
Clemson Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team (16-8, 7-6 ACC) looks to build on the emotion of a double-overtime victory at Virginia as the Terrapins prepare for their fourth game in an 11-day span, this one against the Clemson Tigers (12-13, 2-10 ACC) at Comcast Center. The Terrapins, currently locked in a two-way tie for fourth place in the top-rated conference in the nation, look to avenge a mid-season ACC loss at the hands of the Tigers from Feb. 12 (88-73 at Littlejohn Coliseum) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on the Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Network; UPN-20 (WDCA) in Washington, D.C., and WB-54 (WNUV) in the Baltimore area. Former Maryland football linebacker Tim Brant (Journalism `73) and longtime ACC college hoops analyst and Virginia standout Dan Bonner call the action.
The Terrapins, who have won three of their last four games overall and are 12-1 at Comcast Center this season (5-1 at home in the ACC), take on the Tigers after going the extra distance for a 92-89 double-overtime road victory over ACC border-rival Virginia. The win marked the Terps' third overtime contest in the last five games and fourth of the season (3-1), which matches last year's total. The four overtime games tie the single-season school record from 2003-04, and the two seasons' combined eight extra-session contests is also a record. Saturday marked the Terps' first double-overtime game since the 1983-84 season, when UM defeated Clemson in triple-OT and fell to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech in double-OT, all within a five-game span between Feb. 8 and 18, 1984.
John Gilchrist led the Terrapins with 22 points at Virginia and drilled a decisive 3-pointer after a Nik Caner-Medley offensive rebound that gave Maryland its final lead. Gilchrist added nine rebounds and six assists to his scoring total, while Caner-Medley's 19 points and 11 boards gave him the fourth double-double of his career and second this season. Big man Travis Garrison scored 11 of his 20 points after regulation and grabbed eight boards for the Terps, while Chris McCray scored 13 with seven rebounds and four assists. Maryland's sweep over Virginia (Jan. 19 and Feb. 19) marked the third over the Cavaliers in the last four seasons. Matched with two victories over Duke (Jan. 26 and Feb. 12), Maryland has swept both of its "primary partners" in the first season of the newly-expanded ACC.
The Terrapins are currently the No. 25 team in the latest RPI report listed on ESPN.com, with the eighth-strongest schedule in the nation. Maryland is the fourth-ranked team in the ACC according to the report, with the fourth-toughest strength of schedule. The Terps have notched five victories over Top 60 RPI teams, and not one of the Terps' losses have come to a team outside the RPI Top 100.
Clemson is 12-13 overall (2-10 ACC) after falling, 88-56, to North Carolina on Saturday. Tiger senior forward Sharrod Ford (Suitland, Md.) leads Clemson in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg). Head coach Oliver Purnell was an assistant coach at Maryland under "Lefty" Driesell from 1985-86 to 1987-88. The Terrapins lead the series, 84-43, and have won 13 of the last 14 games against the Tigers and the last seven meetings in College Park.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Terrapin head coach Gary Williams -- who received his second national coach of the week honor from ESPN's Dick Vitale on Feb. 14 -- is the conference's second-active winningest head man with an overall record of 538-301 and a 331-173 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 (139) 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.
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 16.6 points , 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals. He has fired at a 41.4 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 93.6 percent (73-of-78). 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 on Jan. 31 after the wins over Duke and Georgia Tech, leads the Terps in scoring at 16.7 ppg. He is averaging 19.0 ppg across the last 12 contests, shooting .477 from the field while grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game, dishing 2.3 assists and making 1.3 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 11 contests. Caner-Medley posted his fourth career double-double (19 pts, 11 rebs) vs. Virginia on Feb. 19.
Junior point guard and last week's ACC Player of the Week John Gilchrist is averaging 16.8 points, 6.8 assists and 6.0 rebounds over the last four games, including a 22-points, nine-rebound, six-assist effort at Virginia, 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 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 8.3 ppg across the last 12 games, and his 10.2 ppg average in the last five contests includes a 54.5 shooting performance from the field and a 40.0 percent success rate from beyond the arc. Ledbetter has proven to be solid at the point or two-guard positions, grabbing a career-high seven rebounds at Virginia (Feb. 19) and scoring a career-high 10 points against Clemson (Feb. 1).
At 82.5 points per game, the Terps own one of the most potent scoring offenses in the nation. The Terps are ranked tied for third in the ACC in scoring offense, behind only UNC (90.3 ppg) and Wake (82.5 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 .724 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 play host No. 2/2 North Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 27, in their final home game of the season at 5:30 p.m., with a national telecast on FOX Sports Net.
