Maryland Travels to Face Virginia
1/15/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Jan. 15, 2007
Maryland looks for its second Atlantic Coast Conference victory when the Terrapins travel to face the Virginia Cavaliers on Tuesday (January 16). Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. The game can be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network and will be televised by the Raycom/Lincoln Financial Network.
• The Terps carry a mark of 15-3 into the contest, while Virginia is 9-6. The Terrapins posted a 92-87 victory over Clemson in their last game. Virginia suffered a 78-73 defeat at Boston College.
• Maryland senior D.J. Strawberry leads the Terps with 15.6 points per game. He is 15th in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring. Junior guard Sean Singletary leads the Cavaliers with 18.6 points per game. He is the second leading scorer in the ACC.
• Tuesday's game marks the 165th meeting between the two schools. Maryland leads the all-time series 101-63. The Terrapins have won each of the last six meetings and have claimed nine of the last 11 against Virginia.
Maryland has displayed a balanced offensive attack this season. The Terps boast the third-highest scoring average in the league (81.1 ppg), and have four players averaging double figures.
• Strawberry leads the team with 15.6 points per game. Mike Jones is averaging 13.6 points per game, while James Gist has tallied 11.7 points per game. Ekene Ibekwe is averaging 11.4 points.
• Strawberry and Jones have each led the team in scoring on seven occasions. Ibekwe has led the Terps in the scoring column in four games this season.
• Maryland has outscored its opponents by an average of 17.2 points per game this season. That is the second best scoring margin in the ACC behind North Carolina (22.1).
Maryland knocked off the nation's last remaining unbeaten team as the Terrapins defeated Clemson, 92-87, on Saturday (Jan. 13). The Terps shot a season-high 63-percent from the field on 32-of-51 shooting. Five players scored in double figures for Maryland and the Terps enjoyed a 35-29 rebounding advantage.
• Senior Ekene Ibekwe recorded his fourth doulbe-double of the season with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds against the Tigers. Ibekwe went 6-of-7 from the free throw line and now has 424 career free throw attempts, which ranks 17th all-time at Maryland.
• D.J. Strawberry recorded a game-high six assists in the victory. The senior swingman added 14 points, four rebounds and one steal in 38
minutes.
• Senior Parrish Brown came off the bench and gave the Terrapins a lift as he scored eight points in 11 minutes. Brown went 3-of-4 from the field and added two rebounds and two assists.
• Junior James Gist scored in double figures for the seventh time in his last nine games as he tallied 12 points against Clemson. Gist scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half. He also added five rebounds, three blocked shots and one steal in 28 minutes.
The Terps have made a renewed commitment to defense in 2006-07. Maryland has forced its opponents into an average of 18.2 turnovers per game this season.
• The Terps are yielding just 29.3 points in the first half and limiting the opposition to 36 percent shooting from the field. Maryland's opponents are shooting just 29 percent (106-of-366) from three-point range.
• The Terps are averaging 8.3 steals per game and have recorded 144 blocked shots through 18 games.
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 seventh in school history with 179 career steals. He was named Honorable Mention All-ACC Defensive Team in 2005-06.
• Ibekwe sits in fifth place on the school's all-time blocked shots list. The Carson, Calif., native has 195 career rejections at Maryland and has averaged 1.7 blocked shots per game.
• With ten rebounds against Clemson, Ibekwe moved into 19th place on the school's all-time rebounding list. The senior forward has 652 career rebounds.
• Ibekwe has attempted 424 career free throws and ranks 17th all-time at Maryland.
• 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 170 three-point field goals and sits in fifth place on the school's all-time list. Jones has hoisted 418 shots from beyond the arc, which is the seventh highest total in school history.
• Gist has totaled 128 blocked shots during his three seasons in College Park. He is 10th on the school's all-time list and has averaged 1.5 blocks per game.
Freshman Greivis Vasquez has tallied 72 assists through 18 games and is well on his way to recording one of the top assist totals among freshman point guards at Maryland. Vasquez needs just 16 more helpers to pass Exree Hipp for eighth on the school's all-time assist totals among freshmen. Freshman Eric Hayes has 71 assists this season.
• Steve Blake (2000-03) owns the school record with 217 assists as a freshman in 2000.
Maryland leads the all-time series with Virginia, 101-63, dating back to the first meeting in 1923-24.
• The Terps have won six straight over the Cavaliers and nine of the last 11 meetings. Dating back to 1996, Maryland has won 17 of the last 22 games with UVA.
• The Terps swept Virginia last season, winning 76-65 at Comcast Center and 71-70 at University Hall.
• Maryland has swept UVA in four of the last five seasons and six times overall under Gary Williams.
• Head coach Gary Williams is 22-14 all-time against Virginia, including a 22-13 mark as head coach at Maryland. He lost to the Cavaliers as head coach at Boston College in 1982-83.
