Terrapins Travel to Face Golden Gophers
3/17/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 17, 2008
The University of Maryland (18-14, 8-8 ACC) travels to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers Tuesday (March 18) in the first round of the 2008 MasterCard National Invitational Tournament. Tipoff between the Terps and Golden Gophers is set for 9:30 p.m. ET at Williams Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network and will be televised nationally by ESPN.
• Maryland is making its 15th straight postseason appearance and its seventh trip to the NIT.
• The Terps earned a No. 5 seed in the NIT, while Minnesota is seeded fourth.
• Maryland is 3-0 all-time against the Golden Gophers. The last meeting
between the two schools came in 2005 when the Terps posted an 83-66 victory over Minnesota as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Maryland is 1-0 at Williams Arena, as the Terps scored a 64-53 win in Minneapolis on December 29, 1955.
• Sophomore Greivis Vasquez leads the Terps with 17.3 points per game. He is the fourth-leading scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference and was named second team All-ACC. Senior James Gist was also named to the All-ACC second team. Gist is eighth in the league in scoring (15.8 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (7.8 rpg). Senior Lawrence McKenzie leads
Minnesota with 12.2 points per game. McKenzie was an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection by the media, as was senior Dan Coleman. Coleman averaged 11.9 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per contest.
• The winner of Tuesday's Maryland-Minnesota contest will advance to face the winner of the Syracuse-Robert Morris first round matchup.
The Terps are making their seventh NIT appearance and their 15th consecutive postseason appearance. Maryland is 10-5 overall in NIT competition.
• Maryland played in the 1990 postseason NIT in Gary Williams' first season back at his alma mater. The Terps downed UMass (91-81) in the first round in College Park before losing to Penn State (80-78) in the second round.
• Led by Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, Jim O'Brien and Bob Bodell, the Terps captured the NIT title in 1972 - the year of Maryland's first appearance in the tournament. The Terps downed St. Joseph's (67-55) and Syracuse (71-65) in the first two rounds at Madison Square Garden before handily topping Jacksonville (91-77) in the semifinals and Niagara (100-69) in the championship game.
Defense has been a constant for the Terrapins this season.
Maryland leads the ACC and is 20th 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 6.63 blocked shots per game. James Gist is second in the league with 2.29 blocks per game, while fellow senior Bambale Osby is third in the ACC with 2.13 blocks per contest.
Three of Maryland's starters are among the top 12 players in the ACC for minutes played per contest. Sophomore Greivis Vasquez is second in the league, averaging 36.91 minutes per contest.
• Sophomore guard Eric Hayes is eighth in the ACC in minutes per game (33.62), while senior James Gist is 12th (31.81).
Maryland has utilized a balanced offensive attack this season as four Terps average double figures in scoring. Greivis Vasquez leads the team with 17.3 points per game, while senior James Gist averages 15.8 points per contest. Bambale Osby is averaging 11.2 points and Eric Hayes has added 10.3 points per game.
• All four players have increased their scoring average from last season. They average 55.6 of Maryland's 73.2 points per game.
Head coach Gary Williams is the eighth-winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball with an overall record of 603-342 (.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.
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 318 consecutive games.
• Maryland has failed to make a 3-pointer just twice in the last 387 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 603 of 610 games.
• Since the rule was instituted in 1987, Maryland has hit at least one three-pointer in 660 of 669 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 15.8 points per game this year.
• With his 766 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 17.3 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 30 of 32 games this season and has led the team in scoring 16 times.
• He leads the team with 220 assists and has dished out at least five assists in 24 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 21 games this year. His 220 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 193 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 5.7 this season.
• He is averaging a team-high 36.9 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 16 times this season.
• He is second on the team in assists (127) and third in steals (32).
• Hayes is 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.
• He leads the team in free throw shooting. Hayes has connected on 85 percent (46 of 54) of his attempts from the foul line.
• Hayes missed three games this season after suffering a high ankle sprain in practice.
Senior Bambale Osby has made a big impact for the Terps at both ends of the floor this season:
• Osby is averaging 11.2 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 64 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 6.5 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 8.5 points per game this season after averaging 1.0 as a freshman. His rebounding has jumped from 0.8 to 3.6 per game.
• He has scored in double figures in 14 of the last 25 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 23 blocked shots and has added 19 steals for the season.
Maryland's roster is dominated by underclassmen, as 10 of the 14 Terps are freshmen or sophomores. The underclassmen account for 60 percent of Maryland's scoring, 56 percent of the rebounding and 86 percent of the team's assists.
