Maryland Men's Baskeball Host Missouri-Kansas City Wednesday Night
12/12/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2006
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Maryland plays host to the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Wednesday (Dec. 13) at Comcast Center. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. The game can be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network and will be televised locally on Comcast SportsNet.
• The Terps carry a mark of 9-2 into the contest, while UMKC is 3-7.
• Maryland senior D.J. Strawberry leads the Terps with 14.3 points per game. He is 16th in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring. Senior Quinton Day leads UMKC's attack as his 21.2 points per game leads the Mid-Continent Conference.
• Wednesday's game marks the first meeting between the Terrapins and Kangaroos.
Maryland has displayed a balanced offensive attack through 11 games this season. The Terps are averaging 79.0 points per game this season and have five players averaging double figures.
• Strawberry leads the team with 14.3 points per game. Mike Jones is averaging 12.5 points per game, while James Gist has tallied 11.5 points per game. Ekene Ibekwe is averaging 11.3 points. Freshman Greivis Vasquez is averaging 10.1 points per game off the bench.
• Ibekwe, Jones and Strawberry have each been the team's leading scorer at least three times this season. Gist led the Terps with 17 points at Boston College.
The Terps have made a renewed commitment to defense in 2006-07. Maryland has forced its opponents into an average of 19.0 turnovers per game through the first 11 games of the season.
• The Terps are yielding just 28.5 points in the first half and limiting the opposition to 37 percent shooting from the field. Maryland's opponents are shooting just 27 percent (62-of-234) from three-point range.
• The Terps are averaging 8.5 steals per game and have recorded 81 blocked shots through eleven games.
Despite preparing for final examinations and participating in prestigious regular season tournaments over the years, Maryland has excelled during the month of December under Gary Williams. His Terrapins have posted an all-time record of 93-32 (.744) in the last month of the calendar.
• Williams guided the Terps to an unblemished mark of 8-0 during December of 2000.
James Gist recorded his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as Maryland fell at Boston College, 73-62 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
• Gist was one of three Terps to score in double figures. Mike Jones, a Dorchester, Mass., native scored 10 points, while Bambale Osby came off the bench and scored 10 points to go with nine rebounds.
• Osby added three blocked shots against B.C., marking the second consecutive game in which he has recorded three blocks.
• The Terps suffered their worst shooting performance of the season, as Maryland was held to 24-of-62 (.387) from the field.
• Maryland is now 30-24 all-time in league openers and 10-8 in league openers under head coach Gary Williams. The Terps had won their last two conference openers before falling to B.C.
Maryland is among the teams receiving votes in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Poll, released December 10. The Terps made their season debut in both polls on November 20.
• Maryland has appeared in the AP Top 25 a total of 348 times. The Terrapins have placed in the AP Top 25 at least once in each of the last 14 seasons.
• The Terps have been ranked in the coaches poll 321 times. Maryland has placed in the coaches poll at least once in each of the last 14 seasons.
• The Terrapins are ranked 16th in the December 11 Sagarin Ratings.
• The Terps were named Team of the Week on November 20 by both Dick Vitale and Andy Katz.
Four Terrapins are rapidly climbing the school's all-time record book. Seniors D.J. Strawberry, Ekene Ibekwe, and Mike Jones have all made their mark in the Terrapin annals, along with junior James Gist:
• Strawberry ranks 11th in school history with 161career steals. He was named Honorable Mention All-ACC Defensive Team in 2005-06.
• Ibekwe sits in seventh place on the school's all-time blocked shots list. The Carson, Calif., native has 170 career rejections at Maryland and has averaged 1.8 blocked shots per game.
• With six rebounds against Fordham, Ibekwe moved into 27th place on the school's all-time rebounding list. The senior forward has 590 career rebounds.
• Senior Mike Jones has distinguished himself as one of the best shooters in the ACC and has rapidly moved up the school's all-time three pointers list. Jones has totaled 145 three-point field goals and sits in sixth place on the school's all-time list. Jones has hoisted 368 shots from beyond the arc, which is the seventh highest total in school history.
• Gist has totaled 107 blocked shots during his three seasons in College Park. He is 11th on the school's all-time list and has averaged 1.4 blocks per game.
