March 12, 2008

The University of Maryland (18-13, 8-8 ACC) takes on the Boston College Eagles (13-16, 4-12 ACC) Thursday (March 13) in the first round of the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Tipoff between the Terps and Eagles is set for 9:30 p.m. ET at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network and will be televised regionally by Raycom Sports.
• The Terps are the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament for the eighth time in school history. Maryland is 6-6 all-time as the No. 6 seed. The Terps won the 2004 tournament championship as the sixth seed with wins over Wake Forest (87-86), NC State (85-82) and Duke (95-87, OT).
• Maryland is 5-4 all-time against Boston College. The two teams split the two regular-season meetings, with each team winning on the road. BC won the only meeting between the two schools in the ACC tournament, posting an 80-66 victory over the Terps in 2006. Maryland's 70-65 win in Chestnut Hill on February 6 gave Gary Williams his 600th career victory.
• Sophomore Greivis Vasquez leads the Terps with 17.5 points per game. He is the fourth-leading scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tyrese Rice leads Boston College with 21.3 points per game. He is the second-leading scorer in the ACC.
• Maryland's Gary Williams was head coach at Boston College from 1982-86. He led the Eagles to a 76-45 (.628) record and two NCAA Regional Semifinal appearances. In 1982-83, BC tied for first place in the Big East with a record of 12-4 and advanced to the NCAA West Regional Semifinals.
• The winnner of Thursday's Maryland-Boston College contest will advance to face the No. 3-seed Clemson Tigers Friday at 9:30 p.m.

A charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Maryland is 41-50 (.450) all-time in 53 ACC Tournaments dating back to its first appearance in 1954. The Terps have captured three ACC Tourney titles - 1958, 1984, 2004 - and have advanced to the championship game on nine occasions. Maryland has advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals 27 times (9-18). Head coach Gary Williams is 15-16 in 17 ACC tournaments at Maryland and led the Terps to the 2004 ACC Championship. Under Williams, Maryland has won at least one game in 12 of 17 ACC Tournaments.

Maryland enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 6 seed for the eighth time in school history. The Terps are 6-6 all-time as the sixth seed in the conference tournament. The last time Maryland earned the No. 6 seed was in 2006. The Terrapins posted a victory over Georgia Tech (82-64) in the first round of the ACC Tourney before falling to Boston College (80-66) in the second round. The Terps are 4-3 in the opening round as the No. 6 seed.

Maryland has won at least one game in the tournament 29 times, which ranks fourth among member schools.
• Maryland is second among all ACC schools with at least one win in eight consecutive tournaments from 1995-2002.
• The Terps have won at least two postseason games (ACC, NCAA, NIT) in seven of the last ten seasons and have averaged better than three postseason wins the last seven years (22-11).
• Only once in tournament history have four players from one team scored 20 or more points in a game - John Lucas (24), Owen Brown (22), Mo Howard (20) and Tom McMillen (20) combined for 86 points in Maryland's 105-85 semifinal win over North Carolina in 1974.
• 56 Terps have earned ACC All-Tournament honors, which ranks third all-time. Maryland has had 23 players earn first-team honors and 33 named to the second team. Four Terps have earned tournament MVP honors - John Gilchrist (2004), Len Bias (1984), Albert King (1980) and Nick Davis (1958).
• Maryland has faced NC State 17 times in the ACC Tournament - the most of any team. The Terps have also faced Duke (16) and North Carolina (15) the most times behind the Wolfpack.
• The 1974 title game between NC State and Maryland featured six players who earned All-America honors during their collegiate careers (David Thompson, Tom Burleson, Monte Towe-NC State; Tom McMillen, John Lucas, Len Elmore-Maryland). All six players, along with former Terps Tommy Roy, Mo Howard & Owen Brown, and NC State's Phil Spence were future NBA draft picks.

Head coach Gary Williams is the eighth-winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball with an overall record of 603-341 (.639). He ranks second among active ACC coaches with 396 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 seven other active head coaches in Division I have 600 career wins.

Defense has been a constant for the Terrapins this season. Maryland leads the ACC and is 15th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, as the Terrapins have limited their opponents to just 39 percent shooting from the field.
• Maryland leads the league and is fifth in the country in blocked shots. The Terps average 6.52 blocked shots per game. James Gist is second in the league with 2.20 blocks per game, while fellow senior Bambale Osby is third in the ACC with 2.07 blocks per contest.

Maryland has utilized a balanced offensive attack this season as four Terps average double figures in scoring. Greivis Vasquez leads the team with 17.5 points per game, while senior James Gist averages 15.7 points per contest. Bambale Osby is averaging 11.4 points and Eric Hayes has added 10.3 points per game.
• All four players have increased their scoring average from last season. They average 55.4 of Maryland's 73.4 points per game.

The ACC is the top-ranked conference in the RPI and has played the nation's second toughest non-conference schedule according to the RPI.
• Maryland has played the nation's 16th most difficult schedule according to the College RPI. The Terps have seven wins over teams in the RPI Top 100 and have not lost to a team with an RPI below 140.
• The ACC has compiled a 30-19 record against teams from the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and the SEC. The .612 winning percentage is best among the six power conferences.
• In non-conference play, the ACC compiled a record of 130-38, a winning percentage of .774.

Maryland has proven to be one of the nation's most proficient 3-point shooting teams since the rule was instituted in 1987.
• Maryland has made at least one 3-pointer in 317 consecutive games.
• Maryland has failed to make a 3-pointer just twice in the last 386 games.
• The last game the Terps failed to make a 3-pointer was Jan. 7, 1999 when Maryland went 0-for-7 from 3-point range in a 71-66 win at Virginia.
• Since Gary Williams took over, Maryland has hit a 3-pointer in 602 of 609 games.
• Since the rule was instituted in 1987, Maryland has hit at least one three-pointer in 659 of 668 games.
• Maryland made a school-record 217 treys in 2001-02.
• The Terps' top 3-point shooting percentage was 46.1% (122-290) in 1987-88.
• Maryland set new school records for most three-pointers in a game (17) and most three-point attempts (37) last season against Missouri-Kansas City.

Senior James Gist has joined elite company in the storied history of Maryland Basketball:
• With 18 points against Morgan State (Dec. 6), Gist became the 46th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
• His scoring average has increased each season, as he is averaging a career-best 16.1 points per game this year.
• With his 760 career rebounds, Gist is just the 22nd player in school history to tally 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. He is just the fifth player in school history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocked shots in a career.
• James Gist was named the Sporting News National Player of the Week on February 11. Gist averaged 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and shot 76 percent in wins over Boston College and NC State.
• Named the ACC Player of the Week on January 21 after averaging 16.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 blocked shots in wins over Wake Forest and North Carolina.
• All-ACC Second Team and was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team.
• The Silver Spring native was named a preseason Wooden Award candidate.
• Gist spent the summer as a member of the USA's Pan Am Games team which earned a fifth-place finish in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez enjoyed a breakout season as a freshman in 2006-07 and has improved in 2007-08:
• Named All-ACC Second Team.
• Vasquez averages a team-high 17.5 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 29 of 31 games this season and has led the team in scoring 16 times.
• He leads the team with 211 assists and has dished out at least five assists in 23 games this year. 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 has led the team in assists in 20 games this year. His 211 assists mark the third-highest output by a sophomore at Maryland.
• With 60 three pointers this season, Vasquez has the most triples in a single-season among sophomores at UMD. His 191 attempts from beyond the arc is a single-season record for sophomores at Maryland.
• Vasquez has improved his rebounding from 3.3 per game as a freshman to 5.6 this season.
• He is averaging a team-high 36.8 minutes per game.
• Vasquez was named the ESPN.com Player of the Week on February 11. He averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 11.5 assists in wins over Boston College and NC State.
• Vasquez spent the summer as a member of the Venezuelan National team which competed in the FIBA Americas Championships in Las Vegas during August.

Sophomore guard Eric Hayes has built on an impressive freshman season and has continued his development for the Terrapins:
• Hayes has scored in double figures 15 times this season.
• He is second on the team in assists (126) and third in steals (32).
• Hayes is fourth in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94).
• 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.
• He leads the team in free throw shooting. Hayes has connected on 85 percent (46 of 54) of his attempts from the foul line.

Senior Bambale Osby has made a big impact for the Terps at both ends of the floor this season:
• Osby is averaging 11.4 points per game this year after averaging just 5.8 points as a junior.
• He has scored in double figures 21 times this season after only breaking double figures in eight games last year.
• Osby is second on the team with 60 blocked shots. He tallied just 16 blocks as a junior in 2006-07.
• Osby has increased his production on the glass as he is averaging 6.4 rebounds per contest after pulling down 3.9 board per game last year.

After playing in just 16 of 34 games as a freshman, Landon Milbourne spent the summer in College Park working on his game and the results have followed:
• Milbourne is averaging 8.4 points per game this season after averaging 1.0 as a freshman. His rebounding has jumped from 0.8 to 3.7 per game.
• He has scored in double figures in 14 of the last 24 games and set a new career high with 18 points against Florida State. He has set a new career high four times since January 1.
• Milbourne is shooting 47 percent (17 of 36) from three-point range in ACC play.
• Milbourne has made his mark on defense as well, as he is third on the team with 22 blocked shots and has added 19 steals for the season.