March 23, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Quotes

• For the second straight game, the Maryland basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit to topple Davidson 78-63 Wednesday night at Comcast Center to advance to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament, where they will host Texas Christian Saturday afternoon in College Park. It is the Terps' first appearance in the NIT quarterfinals since their inaugural appearance in the 1972 tournament.

• The Terrapins improve their all-time NIT mark to 9-3 in five appearances, while the Wildcats drop to 2-4 overall in four NIT appearances after winning two straight road contests for the first NIT wins in school history.

• Maryland extends its streak of home victories against non-conference foes to 20, a string that spans to Dec. 23, 2002.

• Maryland improves its record to 18-12, while Davidson ends the year with a 23-9 mark. The 23 wins represent the highest victory total for the Wildcats since recording 25 wins in the 1995-96 season. Maryland upped its mark to 14-3 in College Park, while Davidson fell to 11-4 on the road.

• The teams have met nine previous times, but Wednesday's meeting was the first between the programs since 1968, when Charles "Lefty" Driesell was Davidson's coach. He became Maryland's coach the following season. The Terps now lead the all-time series 7-3.

• Sterling Ledbetter guided an efficient Terrapin offense that came on strong after a slow start. In his second consecutive start, the junior point guard tied a career-high with 10 points and dished out a career-high eight assists. It follows a 10-point, nine-rebound, five-assist game in the NIT first round contest with Oral Roberts. He also recorded a career-high 34 minutes. He was one of six Terps to score in double figures.

• James Gist scored a team-high 15 points, making 4-of-5 shots and converting all seven attempts from the charity stripe. He added seven rebounds. Travis Garrison and Nik Caner-Medley each pitched in 12 points. Caner-Medley also snared a game-high 11 rebounds, tying a season-high. It was his fourth double-double of the season and sixth of his career.

• Ekene Ibekwe played a strong game on both ends, racking up 11 points, nine rebounds and five crowd-pleasing blocks. It was his second-highest block total of the season (6 vs. Liberty, 12/28).

• Chris McCray also tallied 11 points, his 12th double-figure performance in 13 games and 24th of the season.

• Three Wildcats scored in double figures. Southern Conference Player of the Year Brendan Winters led the way with 16 - 13 in the second half -- but was held to just 5-of-14 from the floor. It was the 25th straight game in which he reached double figures in scoring. Jason Morton added 15 points - 11 in the first half - and Logan Kosmalski recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 boards.

• Davidson launched 35 three-point attempts, a season-high for a Maryland opponent. They converted just 10 bombs for a 28.6 percent advantage. The 35 long-distance shots represented more than half of the Wildcats' 67 field-goal attempts.

• Maryland used its 11th different starting lineup of the season, using the combination of Will Bowers, Garrison, Caner-Medley, Ledbetter and McCray.

• It was raining threes early as seven of Davidson's first 10 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc. Matt McKillop and Winters each drilled one from the outside to spot the Wildcats an early 8-4 lead, as Maryland was aggressive on the offensive end, but was successful on only 2-of-7 field goal attempts. Forward Ian Johnson made a pair of hoops in the low post and Morton finished off a three-point play to give the Wildcats an 18-12 lead with 10:55 remaining. A trey by Conor Grace increased the Davidson lead to 23-14 with under nine minutes left. Davidson capitalized on nine Maryland turnovers in the opening 11 minutes, scoring 12 points on the other end.

• Davidson reeled off 11 straight points as Kosmalski hit back-to-back three pointers and Morton swished a floater from the baseline and drilled a deep three from the wing to up Davidson's lead to 34-18 with 3:56 left. After hitting just 3-of-10 treys to open the game, the Wildcats connected on four of their next six to extend the gap.

• Senior Mike Grinnon entered the fray with 3:30 left, and Maryland roared back with 16 consecutive points to even the score at 34 entering the break. Caner-Medley started the blitz with a three-point play, Gist picked off an errant Wildcat pass and delivered a thunderous dunk that brought the home crowd to life. Ibekwe rejected his fourth shot of the half on the other end and converted 1-of-2 free throws. Gist hit a baseline jumper and converted a three-point play on consecutive possessions. Ledbetter emerged from a scramble in the lane and deposited an easy lay-in before sinking a hanging jumper and an ensuing free throw with 2.8 seconds left that capped the comeback. Davidson missed their final five field goal attempts of the half and committed three turnovers, while Maryland converted 6-of-7 field goals to close the frame.

• Maryland has now won both games this season when tied at the half (at Virginia, 2/19), while Davidson had been perfect in three previous contests when the score was knotted at the break.

• Davidson's drought continued into the second frame, misfiring on 12 straight, while the Terps regained the lead for the first time since it was 4-2 as Garrison sunk a pair of free throws and McCray swiped the ball and dunked it home for a 38-34 lead with 16:54 to play. The 20-point spurt was the longest Maryland run of the season. A pair of free throws from Kosmalski ended a 7:22 scoreless streak for Davidson and Winters' driving lay-in moments later snapped a 7:45 field-goal drought.

• After committing nine miscues in the opening 11 minutes, Maryland turned the ball over just five times the rest of the way.

• The attendance of 12,126 was the biggest crowd to date in this year's NIT.