Nov. 7, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland men's basketball team plays host to Northwood University in the Terrapins' lone exhbition game of the 2008-09 season on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game can be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network beginning at 1 p.m. and will be available on the Internet at www.accselect.com.
The matchup features a pair of head coaches who have each won NCAA Division I titles in their career. Maryland head coach Gary Williams, entering his 20th season directing the basketball program at his alma mater, will match up against Rollie Massimino, who will be in his fourth season as head coach of the Seahawks. Massimino directed Villanova to the 1985 NCAA title in one of the most storied upsets ever.
Massimino came to the West Palm Beach, Fla., campus in September 2005 to begin the basketball program and has been wildly successful. Northwood is 50-16 in its first two seasons in the sport, having appeared in the NAIA National Tournament each time. The school's first year of basketball was 2006-07.
Williiams has another connection with the Northwood staff. Seahawks assistant coach Dennis Hopson played for Williams at Ohio State, with Hopson's senior year coinciding with Williams' first season in Columbus. Hopson, the third pick of the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Draft in 1987, played on an NBA championship team in Chicago in 1991.
Maryland has three starters returning from a year ago - juniors Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne - and has nine freshmen and sophomores on its 13-man roster. Forward Dave Neal is the lone senior on this year's edition of the Terrapin basketball squad.
The New Year
Maryland's 2008-09 season will feature a deep, talented backcourt and an improving, young front line. That group will face a schedule that has 11 opponents that appeared in thepostseason 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 Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
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.
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.
Maryland's 70-65 victory over Boston College (Feb. 6) 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.
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 have won 59 of their last 73 at home dating back to 2004-05.
The Terps are 240-55 (.816) at home under Gary Williams (155-35 at Cole Field House).
Maryland is 138-25 (.852) 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 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.
Vasquez Shines
Junior guard Greivis Vasquez enjoyed a stellar sophomore season for the Terrapins, drawing national attention for his exciting, passionate play:
Named All-ACC Second Team.
Vasquez averaged a team-high 17.2 points per game. As a freshman he scored 9.8 points per game.
He set a new career high with 28 points against American University.
Vasquez has scored in double figures in 31 of 33 games last season and led the team in scoring 17 times.
He led the team and the ACC with 223 assists and dished out at least five assists in 24 games. He has recorded 10 or more assists five times (Northeastern, Illinois, Morgan State, North Carolina and NC State).
Vasquez tied the school record with 15 assists against NC State. He narrowly missed just the second triple-double in school history as he finished with 13 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds against the Wolfpack.
Vasquez spent the summer of 2007 as a member of the Venezuelan National team, which competed in the FIBA Americas Championships in Las Vegas.
More From Milbourne
After playing in just 16 of 34 games as a freshman, Landon Milbourne was one of the most improved players in the ACC as a sophomore:
Milbourne averaged 8.3 points per game after averaging 1.0 as a freshman. His rebounding jumped from 0.8 to 3.6 per game.
He scored in double figures in 14 of his last 26 games and set a new career high with 18 points against Florida State. He set a new career high four times since January 1.
Milbourne shot 47 percent (17 of 36) from three-point range in ACC play.
Milbourne made his mark on defense as well, as he was third on the team with 23 blocked shots and added 20 steals for the season.
Hayes Continues Strong Play
Junior guard Eric Hayes built on an impressive freshman season and continued his development for the Terrapins a year ago:
Hayes scored in double figures 16 times.
He was second on the team in assists (131) and third in steals (33).
Hayes was fourth in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84).
He scored a then-career high 18 points against Illinois before pouring in 19 points against Morgan State. Hayes recorded a career-high nine assists against Duke and Virginia.
Quotes - Head Coach Gary Williams
On playing Northwood in Saturday's home exhibition game:
"Northwood played Villanova, and it was 26-21 at halftime before Villanova took over in the second half. They're big. It's good if we want to get tested because we're not a real tall team. I think we can be pretty physical with our size, but we're not a real tall team. It's a good [opportunity] to play someone like that."
On the status of Sean Mosley's ankle injury:
"If he can go 100 percent [in practice Friday], then he'll play. If he can't, we'll hold him out because we'll have six days before we play Bucknell, so there's no sense in making it worse. He's fine - he's been running straight for the last couple days. It comes down to whether he can make cuts or not... If it were a regular-season game, I think he definitely could play."
On finally having an opportunity to challenge an outside opponent:
"It's great to play against outside people. It really is different. You really find out about your conditioning because you get your adrenaline going and after the first couple of minutes everyone is dying on both teams. It takes about half a minute to get your wind back, and then you find out if you're in pretty good shape. That's probably as important as anything you do against outside competition."
On how he approaches an exhibition game:
"We're going to try to do some things that we wouldn't try to do in a regular-season game in terms of combinations. We're not necessarily going to play according to the situation, but rather we're going to try to get some people in and try to work on some things that we need to work on against somebody else."
On preseason performance of his team's frontcourt:
"Braxton (Dupree) has probably earned the right to start, but (Jerome) Burney has come on in the last several days, and he's playing a little better. Dino (Gregory) has been a very good rebounder in practice so far. That's why [Saturday's exhibition game] is good for him. We have also practiced with Landon (Milbourne) at the four."
