Terps Open 2008-09 Season Friday With Bucknell

Maryland Downs Minnesota in NIT Opener, 68-58

11/13/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Maryland Athletics

Nov. 13, 2008

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland begins its 90th season of men's basketball on Friday night at Comcast Center against Bucknell University. The game begins the 2008-09 season for each team.

Maryland head coach Gary Williams begins his 20th season directing the basketball program at his alma mater and is three victories away from posting his 400th victory with the Terrapins.

The Terps have three starters returning from last year's team - juniors Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne - and has nine freshmen and sophomores on its 13-man roster. Dave Neal is the lone senior on this year's Maryland team.

Maryland defeated Northwood, Fla., 104-60, on Nov. 8 in its only exhibition game of the season. The Terrapins placed five players in double figures, including 20-point games from Milbourne and freshman Jin Soo Kim. Cliff Tucker added 17 points, Adrian Bowie had 16 off the bench and Hayes had 15 points. The Terps had only 11 turnovers in the game, which featured a matchup between Williams and Seahawks head coach Rollie Massimino, who won an NCAA championship in 1985 while at Villanova.

Bucknell comes to College Park to open a season for the third time, having played the Terrapins' season-openers in the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons. Maryland holds a 6-0 edge in the all-time series with the Bison, who begin their first year under head coach Dave Paulsen.

Season-Openers

Maryland opens its 90th season of basketball in tonight's game. The Terrapins are 61-28 all-time in season-opening games, including a 2-0 mark against Bucknell (W, 95-62 on 11/25/77 and W, 107-97 on 11/24/78)...

The Terps are 7-1 in their previous eight openers during the 2000s, with the lone loss in that stretch a 71-67 loss to Arizona on 11/8/01 in the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic at Madison Square Garden...

Maryland's last loss in a season-opener at home came in 1976-77 when the Terps lost an overtime game to Notre Dame, 80-79, on 11/27/76... The Terps have won 31 straight home-openers in College Park...

Maryland head coach Gary Williams is 16-3 in his previous 19 season-openers with the Terrapins, including a streak of six straight victories... He has won his previous 19 home-openers while with the Terps.

Gary Williams' 20th Season

Head coach Gary Williams reaches another in a career filled with milestones when he coaches his alma mater for the 20th season in 2008-09...

He is the 7th-winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball with an overall record of 604-343 (.638)... He ranks second among active ACC coaches with 397 wins at Maryland (3rd overall) and also ranks second among active league coaches with 165 ACC victories. Williams is the Terps' all-time winningest coach...

He sits three victories away from recording his 400th win in College Park just having started his 20th season... His 397 wins in 19 years is an average of 20.9 wins per season with the Terps...

Maryland's 70-65 victory over Boston College (2/6/2008) gave Williams his 600th career victory. Only six other active head coaches in Division I have 600 career wins.

Milestones, Streaks, etc.

Maryland has hit at least one 3-pointer in 320 consecutive games.

The Terps have won 53 of 57 non-conference games since moving into Comcast Center.

Maryland has won at least 19 games in 12 straight seasons.

The Terps have made 15 consecutive postseason appearances.

Maryland's last losing season came in 1992-93, the last season of devastating NCAA sanctions levied against previous staffs at Maryland... Each school in the ACC has had a losing season since the Terps fell below .500 some 15 seasons ago... In fact, 9 of the 11 ACC opponents have suffered through a losing season since the Terps won the NCAA title in 2002... Duke and UNC are the exceptions.

Over the last four seasons, Maryland has won 82 games, an average of 20.5 per season... That matches the number of wins that Gary Williams directed during the first four seasons (1994-97) of Maryland's run of 11 straight titles.

Tri-Captains

Maryland will have three captains repesenting the team in a leadership role in 2008-09. Senior Dave Neal will accept the role, along with juniors Greivis Vasquez and Landon Milbourne.

Tough Schedule

In 2008-09, Maryland will face a schedule that has 11 opponents that appeared in the postseason a year ago, with a possible 12th in the Terps' half of the bracket at the Old Spice Classic...

The schedule includes an ACC/Big 10 Challenge matchup with Michigan and a return appearance in Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center for the BB&T Classic, where the Terps will face George Washington.

The Terps have a seven-game homestand between December 12 and January 10, with the final game in that stretch being a Comcast Center matchup with Georgia Tech that serves as the ACC opener.

Home Sweet Home

Maryland has been a dominant home team over the years:

The Terps are 791-282 (.738) all-time at home dating back to 1923-24.

Maryland is 85-20 (.817) all-time at Comcast Center.

The Terps are 240-55 (.816) at home under Gary Williams (155-35 at Cole Field House).

Maryland is 139-25 (.848) at home the last 10 seasons (since 1998-99).

Maryland has won 47 of its last 50 regular season non-conference games at Comcast Center under Williams.

The Terps are 134-4 (.970) in regular season non-conference home games under Williams.

Maryland is 71-17 in home-openers in College Park all-time, including a 31-game winning streak (last loss on 11/27/76 to Notre Dame, 80-79, OT)... The Terps did not play a home game in 1918-19.

Maryland was 476-151 in 47 seasons at Cole Field House; 169-90 in 24 seasons at Ritchie Coliseum and 61-21 in eight seasons at The Gymnasium.

Maryland Among ACC's Best Last Ten Years

Maryland has been one of the top programs in the ACC over the past 10 seasons.

With 100 wins since 1999, Maryland is third among all ACC schools in regular-season wins.

Head coach Gary Williams ranks second among active ACC coaches with 165 career wins in league play.

The Terps captured the 2002 ACC regular-season title & the 2004 ACC Tourney championship.

Maryland in the ACC

Maryland begins its 56th season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terps were a charter member of the conference in 1953-54 after 30 years as a member of the Southern Conference.

The Terps are 397-384 (.510) all-time in ACC games.

Maryland is 248-145 (.633) in ACC home games.

Maryland is 150-239 (.386) in ACC away games.

Under Gary Williams, Maryland is 165-136 (.548) in ACC play.

Maryland is 100-50 (.667) at home in ACC games under Williams, including a 31-15 (.689) mark at the Comcast Center.

The Terps have captured three ACC Tournament Championships: 1958,1984 and 2004.

Fear the Turtle!

Maryland is one of the most consistent winning programs in the country following more than a decade of excellence:

Maryland's participation in the 2007-08 NIT marked the 15th straight year the Terrapins reached postseason play.

The Terps have averaged 23.0 wins per season the last 13 years, including eight consecutive 20-win seasons from 1996-2004.

Maryland has made 15 straight postseason appearances, including 11 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament from 1993-2004 - a feat only six schools accomplished at the time.

The Terrapins have won at least two postseason games (ACC, NCAA, NIT) in eight of the last 10 seasons.

The Terps have advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 seven times in the last 14 years.

Maryland made consecutive trips to the NCAA Final Four in 2001 and 2002 .

The Terps captured the 2002 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

The Terps captured the 2004 ACC TOURNAMENT Championship.

Commitment To Education

Sophomore forward Jerome Burney is once again the recipient of the LeFrak Scholarship Award for the men's basketball program. The scholarship represents an endowment established by the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Foundation, and is awarded annually to three Maryland student-athletes who exhibit extraordinary athletic, leadership, and scholarship abilities in football, men's basketball and men's track and field...

Senior Dave Neal is on track to graduate and continue a trend of graduates in the program... James Gist, Bambale Osby and Jason McAlpin were 2007-08 seniors who earned their degrees as Terrapin basketball players.

Gary Williams Quotes from Thursday News Conference:

"I'm pleased with the competitiveness in our perimeter positions. We have a few players that deserve playing time. That doesn't make my job any easier... But at the same time, if we do have an injury along the way, we've gone through that in the preseason when Jin Soo (Kim) wasn't eligible and then when Sean (Mosley) went down with the ankle injury. We've had to practice with that already."

On competition for playing time:

"When you have five or six guys who play the perimeter positions, that's a good thing, it allows you to do a lot of things, but you still don't know until you get in the games... That's going to be interesting when we start to see who really steps up... until someone does, you'll see different people in there."

On who is going to start tomorrow:

"Eric Hayes, Greivis Vasquez, Landon Milbourne, and whoever practices well today."

On whether competition helps practices:

"Well it allows you to go harder and be more competitive in practice, you're not playing a walk-on... so that just helps your practices. A guy like Greivis missing the exhibition game, I think it helped us with the idea that we could play. Obviously it was a Division III game, but I think the players felt like they responded to the situation, we handled that.

"This year, we're a young team, so its small steps every time you play a game or you do something, you're looking to gain some things. I like the way we've gone since October 17th. There haven't been many bad days in practice. I think the excitement's there, the season's starting. We'll find out pretty quick how good we are."

"I think there have been a couple guys who've played at a really good level for at least the past three weeks. I'd say Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker have done a great job in practice and they've both really improved, and they're putting pressure on people, and that's what we want. I've always felt if you can compete in practice even after the season starts it just makes you better."