Nov. 16, 2006
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NEW YORK (AP) -Ekene Ibekwe bettered his career high by outscoring St. John's in the first half, and Maryland went on to a 92-60 victory over the Red Storm on Thursday night in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
The Terrapins (4-0) advanced to Friday night's championship game at Madison Square Garden against the winner of the game between No. 19 Texas and Michigan State.
Ibekwe, a 6-foot-9 senior who had 14 rebounds, scored all 22 of his points in the first half when he outscored St. John's (2-1) by one as Maryland took a 58-21 lead. His previous career best was 21 points, the last time against Boston College last season.
St. John's just couldn't handle Maryland's pressure defense and the Red Storm committed turnovers on the first three possessions of the Terrapins' 15-0 run that made it 25-6.
Maryland simply had to make layups after turnovers - St. John's had 13 in the first half - to build the big lead, and the Red Storm couldn't make a shot when they did handle the pressure, shooting 21.2 percent (7-for-33) in the half, including 2-for-11 from 3-point range.
D.J. Strawberry, with his father, former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry in attendance, had 13 of his 19 points in the first half when the Terrapins shot 53.7 percent (22-for-41) and had a 29-16 advantage on the boards.
Mike Jones added 18 points for Maryland, which was never behind in the game and has trailed this season for a total of 1 minute, 23 seconds. James Gist had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Terrapins.
Anthony Mason Jr. had 12 points for St. John's, which seemed on the way to its worst loss ever. The Red Storm lost 97-55 to Duke on Feb. 24, 2002.
Maryland's biggest lead was 65-25 with 16:45 to play on a 3-pointer by Jones. The Red Storm scored the next six points, the last five by Mason.
The Red Storm finished with 17 turnovers, six off the number Maryland averaged forcing in its first two games.
St. John's was 20-for-43 from 3-point range in its first two games, but was 6-for-22 against Maryland.
The tournament is sponsored by 2K Sports.
