March 15, 2005
Oral Roberts Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Making its fifth NIT appearance in school history, the Maryland basketball team (16-12) faces Oral Roberts (25-7) in the first round of the postseason tournament on Wednesday in College Park. The Terrapins take on the Golden Eagles of Tulsa, Okla., and the Mid-Continent Conference at 9 p.m. at Comcast Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Dave Ryan and Greg Kelser call the action on ESPN's brand new all-college sports network.
The Terrapins have made four NIT appearances prior to 2005, with the last one coming during the first season head coach Gary Williams returned to his alma mater, 1989-90. That year the Terps downed UMass (91-81) in the NIT's first round in College Park, and fell to Penn State (80-78, OT) in the second round.
Led by Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, Jim O'Brien and Bob Bodell, the Terrapins captured the NIT title in 1972 - the year of Maryland's first appearance in the tournament. The Terps downed St. Joseph's (67-55) and Syracuse (71-65) in the first two rounds in New York City before handily topping Jacksonville (91-77) in the semifinals and Niagara (100-69) in the championship game.
Despite 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals from junior guard Chris McCray, the Terrapins fell 84-72 to Clemson in the ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 10. Nik Caner-Medley posted his fifth-career double-double, and third of the season, with 16 points and 10 boards, while Will Bowers tallied a career-high 10 points.
The Mid-Continent regular-season champions with a 25-7 overall record, Oral Roberts posted one of its finest seasons ever in 2004-05. The Golden Eagles were narrowly unseated in their conference tournament on a last-second shot by NCAA tourney Cinderella squad Oakland University. The Eagles average 77.5 ppg, led by sophomore Mid-Con Player of the Year Caleb Green (19.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg). Sophomore Ken Tutt (17.0 ppg) has made 80 3-pointers on the season and is shooting 41 percent from long range. Australian senior Luke Spencer-Gardner hits at a 47.6 percent rate from downtown, leading a squad that dials 40.3 percent from long distance. Sixth-year head coach Scott Sutton -- the son of Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton -- owns a 100-78 record at Oral Roberts. The Wednesday meeting marks the first between the two schools in history.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Head coach Gary Williams is the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-active winningest head man with an overall record of 538-305 and a 331-177 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).
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 nine games, McCray is averaging 19.0 points, 4.4 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals. He has fired at a 47.8 percent clip from the field and has made 47.7 percent of his 3-pointers across that stretch, all while sinking 92.5 percent of his free throws. McCray led the ACC during the regular-season and is in third place nationally in free throw shooting (92.6 percent, 87-for-94), only behind SW Missouri State's Blake Ahearn (95.2) and Duke's J.J. Redick (93.5 percent).
All-ACC third team member Nik Caner-Medley, who was named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week by Andy Katz on Jan. 31 after the Terps' wins over Duke and Georgia Tech, leads the Terps in scoring at 16.6 ppg. He is averaging 18.3 ppg across the last 16 contests, shooting .458 from the field while grabbing 7.0 rebounds per game and dishing 2.1 assists. Caner-Medley has led the Terps in scoring 12 times this season, and has registered more than 20 points in nine games on the year, including six of the past 15 contests.
Honorable mention All-ACC selection and two-time ACC Player of the Week John Gilchrist is averaging 13.4 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds over the last eight games, including a 22-point, nine-rebound, six-assist effort at Virginia (Feb. 19), 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 third among ACC players in assists per game (5.6).
Sophomore D.J. Strawberry, who was listed among the ACC's steals leaders, has been sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) since Jan. 19. Smooth-shooting sophomore guard Mike Jones and junior combo-guard Sterling Ledbetter have stepped up in his place. Jones scored 12 points in 13 minutes against UNC (Feb. 27) and tallied 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 8.6 ppg across the last nine games, including a 41.0 percent shooting performance from the field. 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).
Rookie forward James Gist averaged 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in his last two games played against North Carolina and Virginia Tech. After scoring a career-high 18 against the Hokies (March 5), Gist bruised his knee diving for a loose balll in practice and was sidelined for the Terps' ACC Tournament game against Clemson. His status is day-to-day as the Terps head into the NIT.
At 82.3 points per game, the Terps own one of the most potent scoring offenses in the nation. The Terps are ranked third among ACC teams in scoring offense, behind only national leader UNC (88.8 ppg) and Wake Forest (84.7 ppg). As of March 7, the Terps were ranked fifth in all of NCAA Division I.
Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, currently second in the 11-team ACC with a .729 mark from the line after finishing ninth (.631) in 2003-04. McCray (.926, second), Travis Garrison (.835, sixth), Caner-Medley (.771, ninth) and Gilchrist (.742, 12th) all rank among the ACC's Top 15 shooters from the charity stripe.
On Deck
The NIT continues at campus sites with second round action beginning March 19. A Terrapin victory would earn Maryland a matchup with the winner of Rice/Southwest Missouri State (who square off in the opening round on Wednesday) or Davidson/Virginia Commonwealth (who also meet in the opening round on Wednesday). Opening round winners play their first round games this weekend for a chance to take on the Maryland/Oral Roberts winner (date, time and venue TBA).
