Terrapins Take On Davidson In NIT Second Round On Wednesday At 8 p.m.

March 22, 2005

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Continuing its fifth NIT appearance in school history, the Maryland basketball team (17-12) takes on Davidson (23-8) in the second round of the postseason tournament on Wednesday in College Park. The Terrapins meet the Southern Conference regular-season champions at 8 p.m. at Comcast Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, with Dave Pasch and Jimmy Dykes calling the action.

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. The Terrapins have reached at least the second round in each of their five NIT appearances in history.

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.

In first round action on Wednesday, March 16, the Terrapins closed the first half with a 24-4 run and pulled away in the second period for an 85-72 victory before more than 7,400 fans in College Park. Junior forward Travis Garrison led four double-figure scorers with an 18-point, 11 rebound double-double effort, while guard Mike Jones made his third-career start, drilling three 3-pointers en route to an 18-point effort. Sophomore center Will Bowers tallied a career-high 14 points, while junior guard Sterling Ledbetter netted 10 points, grabbed nine boards and dealt five assists in his first career start. Senior Mike Grinnon played a career-high 17 minutes and nailed a 3-pointer.

Davidson owns a 23-8 record overall and won the Southern Conference regular season by posting a perfect 16-0 league slate. The Wildcats downed Virginia Commonwealth (77-62) and SW Missouri State (82-71) to reach the NIT second round. SoCon Player of the Year Brendan Winters leads four double-figure scorers at 16.7 ppg. Maryland, a charter member of the SoCon in 1921, played in that league until the formation of the ACC in 1953. The Terps own a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series, although Wednesday marks the first meeting between the schools since 1968.

Terp Streaks & Storylines

Head coach Gary Williams is the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-active winningest head man with an overall record of 539-305 and a 332-177 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 10 games, McCray is averaging 17.8 points, 4.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals. He has fired at a 45.6 percent clip from the field and has made 41.2 percent of his 3-pointers across that stretch, all while sinking 90.9 percent of his free throws. McCray led the ACC during the regular-season and is in third place nationally in free throw shooting (91.8 percent, 90-for-98), only behind SW Missouri State's Blake Ahearn (94.5) and Duke's J.J. Redick (93.7 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 16.1 ppg. Despite scoring zero points against Oral Roberts (against whom he tallied eight rebounds and dealt five assists), he is averaging 17.2 ppg across the last 17 contests, shooting .445 from the field while grabbing 7.1 rebounds per game and dishing 2.2 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.

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 a team high-tying 18 points in the first round NIT game against Oral Roberts, which included three 3-pointers. He netted 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 9.5 ppg across the last 10 games, including a 42.9 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 establishing a career-high 10 points against Clemson (Feb. 1). The JUCO transfer put in his best all-around performance of the season against Oral Roberts (March 16), with a career high-tying 10 points, a career-best nine rebounds (four offensive) and a career-high five assists.

Rookie forward James Gist bruised his knee diving for a loose ball in practice and was sidelined for the Terps' ACC Tournament game against Clemson, but did not skip a beat with seven points, four boards and two blocks in 19 minutes during his return game against Oral Roberts. Gist is averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in his last three games played against ORU, Virginia Tech and UNC. He scored a career-high 18 against the Hokies (March 5) before the injury.

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 his last eight games played. Gilchrist sprained his ankle in the first half of the ACC Tournament game against Clemson, did not play against Oral Roberts and is currently listed as day-to-day.

At 82.4 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 (89.1 ppg) and Wake Forest (84.9 ppg). As of March 14, the Terps were ranked fifth in all of NCAA Division I.

Maryland has made a significant improvement at the free throw line, currently topping the 11-team ACC with a .732 mark from the line after finishing ninth (.631) in 2003-04. McCray (.918, second), Travis Garrison (.831, sixth), Caner-Medley (.757, 11th) 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 third round action played March 23-26. The Maryland-Davidson winner will take on Texas Christian this weekend. The third round site and time will be announced on Friday, and the winner will advance to the semifinals in Madison Square Garden.


Terps' NIT Appearances
NIT Appearances: 5
Overall Record: 8-3
Championships: 1 (1972)

Overall Appearances
Year    Maryland's Result
1972    Champions (4-0)
1979    Second Round (1-1)
1982    Second Round (1-1)
1990    Second Round (1-1)
2005    Second Round (1-0)

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