March 25, 2005
TCU Game Notes in PDF Format
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Continuing its fifth NIT appearance in school history, the Maryland basketball team (18-12) faces the TCU Horned Frogs (21-13) of Fort Worth, Texas, and Conference USA in the quarterfinal round of the postseason tournament on Saturday in College Park. With a trip to the NIT semifinals and New York City's Madison Square Garden at stake, the Terrapins meet TCU for the first time since 1988, and the second time in school history, at noon at Comcast Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, with Dave Barnett and Tim McCormick 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, and are making their second-ever quarterfinal appearance.
The Terps advanced to the quarterfinals with a 78-63 second round win over Davidson in College Park on Wednesday evening. Before a 2005 NIT second round best 12,126 fans at Comcast Center, rookie James Gist sparked a 16-0 run in the first half and led six Terrapin double-figure scorers with 15 points, to which he added seven rebounds. Junior Nik Caner-Medley posted his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards, and big man Travis Garrison netted 12 as well. Junior transfer Sterling Ledbetter ran the point with proficiency in his second career start, scoring 10 and adding eight assists, while Ekene Ibekwe and Chris McCray each contributed 11 points. Ibekwe also added nine board and rejected five Wildcat shots. For the game, the Terrapins limited Davidson to only 31 percent shooting from the field and 29 percent shooting from long range. The Southern Conference regular-season champs made 44 percent of their field goals and 37 percent of their 3-pointers headed into the contest.
TCU won two road games in the first two rounds of the NIT -- a 60-58 decision at Miami (Ohio) on March 16 and a 78-76 overtime victory at Western Michigan on Monday. The Horned Frogs' impressive list of wins for the season includes Texas Tech (Nov. 23, 83-68), Florida State (Nov. 28, 71-70) and Memphis (Jan. 15, 61-59). The Terrapins own a 1-0 advantage in the series' lone meeting, a 74-67 win at the 1988 Freedom Bowl Classic in Irvine, Calif.
Terp Streaks & Storylines
Maryland's Gary Williams is the 12th-active winningest coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball and is the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-active winningest head man with an overall record of 540-305 and a 333-177 record as The Terps' mentor. 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 head coaches 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 forward Travis Garrison has led the Terps in scoring through their first two NIT games, averaging 15.0 points per outing. A second-team all-tournament honoree from Maryland's 2004 ACC Championship run and the teams' most valuable player during its summer tour of Italy, Garrison posted an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double vs. Oral Roberts (March 16) and netted 12 points with six boards (four offensive) against Davidson (March 23). Garrison has averaged 8.5 rebounds during NIT play, with 11 of his 17 total boards coming on the offensive end. He averaged 12.4 ppg and 6.6 rpg during the 2004 postseason.
JUCO transfer guard Sterling Ledbetter -- the fourth player to come to Maryland from Allegany Community College since 1998, including All-American Steve Francis -- has run the point with proficiency during NIT play. Ledbetter has averaged 10.0 points, 6.5 assist and 6.0 rebounds during his first two career starts in the Terps' two NIT contests. Ledbetter began to come on strong during the season's second half, as he had to overcome injuries sustained during a summer 2004 automobile accident and a torn calf muscle in the fall. His emergence has helped the Terps to offset the postseason absence of 2005 honorable mention All-ACC selection John Gilchrist, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury suffered in the ACC Tournament.
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 his return for the NIT, averaging 11.0 ppg, 5.5 rebounds, shooting 50 percent from the field and making 10 of his 11 free throws. Gist, the Terps' lone true freshman, has developed into one of Maryland's key inside players and has become one of the ACC's top rookie shot blockers (1.0 per game). He scored a career-high 18 points against Virginia Tech (March 5) in his last game played before the injury.
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 11 games, McCray is averaging 17.2 points, 4.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He has fired at a 44.9 percent clip from the field and has made 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers across that stretch. McCray led the ACC during the regular-season (94.3 percent) and is now in fourth place nationally in free throw shooting (90.1 percent, 91-for-101), only behind SW Missouri State's Blake Ahearn, Duke's J.J. Redick and Illinois State's Vince Green.
All-ACC third team member Nik Caner-Medley leads the Terps in scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg). Caner-Medley is pacing the Terps during NIT play with 9.5 boards per game, and is averaging 16.9 ppg across the last 18 contests, shooting .439 from the field while grabbing 7.3 rebounds and dishing 2.2 assists. Caner-Medley has led the Terps in scoring in 12 games on the 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 through the season's first half, has been sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) since Jan. 19, but smooth-shooting sophomore guard Mike Jones has stepped up in his place. Jones scored a team high-tying 18 points in the first round NIT game against Oral Roberts (March 16), and added seven points in 11 minutes vs. Davidson (March 23) in the second round. Jones is averaging 9.3 ppg across the last 11 games while shooting 43.4 percent from the field.
Seven-foot-one sophomore center Will Bowers is possibly the most improved Terrapin over the course of 2004-05. He has started the last three games and has made a career-high nine starts on the season, averaging 8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 rejection per game across that stretch while shooting 44 percent from the field and 89 percent from the free throw line.
On Deck
The NIT quarterfinal winner advances to the semifinals against South Carolina at Madison Square Garden. Semifinal games are scheduled for 7 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29, with the championship game slated for Thursday, March 31.
