COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland, now 11-3 overall, opens its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule at home Saturday when it plays host to Georgia Tech in a noon game at Comcast Center. The Terrapins had a seven-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday in a 66-56 loss to Morgan State. The game with the Yellow Jackets ends a month-long, seven-game homestand that has seen the Terps playing at Comcast Center since Dec. 12. The game will be telecast live on the Raycom/ACC Network, locally on WTTG-TV, WNUV-TV, WRDE-DT and WHAG-TV. The pregame show on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network begins at 11 a.m.

* The Terrapins will play an ACC league game in each of their next 16 outings. Saturday's game will be the first in a home-and-home series with the Yellow Jackets, as the teams will play in Atlanta on Feb. 8. Maryland has won the last six meetings with Georgia Tech, with the Jackets' last victory coming on Feb. 19, 2004. The Terps own a 34-33 edge in the all-time series between the schools.

* Junior guard Greivis Vasquez continues to lead the Terrapins in a number of categories. He is Maryland's leading scorer at 18.1 points per game, tops the rebounding list at 6.4 boards per game, and has dished out 4.8 assists per game. Vasquez, today making his 51st consecutive start for the Terrapins, has led the team in scoring in each of the last four games, including his 19-point performance Wednesday against Morgan State. Vasquez leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in free-throw percentage, hitting .934 at the line so far this season.

* Speaking of free throws, Maryland entered the week second in the nation in free-throw percentage, hitting .795 as a team. The Terrapins hold a comfortable lead in the ACC in that category, with Duke in second place at .748. Of the seven Terps who have made at least 10 foul shots this year, six of those are hitting 73 percent or better at the line this season. Maryland has out-scored opponents at the line in 12 of their 14 games this season (11-1 in those games). UC Davis leads the nation with an .809 percentage as of games through last Sunday.

* Tri-captain Landon Milbourne has improved his scoring output recently. The junior forward has scored in double figures in each of the last eight games, and is averaging 15.8 points per game over that stretch. Milbourne has moved into second place in rebounding on the team, now pulling down 4.9 boards per game. His 35 offensive rebounds lead the team, as does his .515 field-goal percentage.

* Georgia Tech comes into today's game with a 9-5 mark overall. The Yellow Jackets won at home against Georgia, 67-62, on Jan. 6 in their last game. Tech is 2-2 on the road this season and is 0-1 in conference play. The Jackets lost at home, 88-84, in overtime to Virginia on Dec. 28.

* Sophomore Gani Lawal has emerged as a leader for Georgia Tech this season. The 6-foot-9 forward from Norcross, Ga., is averaging a double-double for the Jackets, posting 17 points and 10 rebounds per game, topping each of those categories. Georgia Tech comes to Comcast Center with five players averaging in double figures, including Alade Aminu, who scores 13.5 points per game and averages 8.9 rebounds an outing. Freshman point guard Iman Shumpert is second in the ACC in assists, averaging 6.4 helpers per game.

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams - January 9 Quotes

On opening conference play against a tough Georgia Tech squad following a loss:

"I knew it was going to be a tough game and I knew where the game fell, it was going to be a problem in terms of our focus with Charlotte and Georgia Tech on either side of that game. We got caught, but going into the ACC season, it really doesn't matter much whether you're 12-2 or 11-3. What matters is what you do the next 16 games. If you go 7-9 in the league, you probably go home. If you got 9-7, you're still playing - and that's whether you're 12-2 or 11-3. You move on. One thing about basketball that's good is you play. You don't have seven days between games usually. You play 30 regular season games, and we have 16 left to play."

On Georgia Tech's use of the press this season:

"That have [used the press] in second halves. They haven't started with it. They've had success with it, though, so maybe you see it more now. They were down 30 to Alabama and got it down to 10 in the second half. Then against Georgia they were down 10 at halftime and came out and won the game with it, so you never know. It's a commitment to press. You're really changing your team a little bit when you decide to become a pressing team."

On striving to play well for all 40 minutes of a game:

"I don't think any team plays 40 minutes. We always talk that that's our goal to play 40 minutes. That's like having a goal of not missing a shot the whole game - that never happens. You'd like to get a good shot every time down court, but you try to expand the number of minutes you play well. I thought we'd been doing a good job of that up until Morgan State."

On what he would like to get from his bench:

"What you'd like to get is no drop-off in how you play. In other words, if we're playing well, sooner or later you still have to sub, and you don't want to see that level of play go down. I think Sean Mosley lately has done a very good job of that, and we need other people to pick up on that when they come into the game Saturday because it will be a very fast-paced game."

On playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference:

"There are no easy games this year in the ACC. You look at 16 games, and you can't say, `oh we've got three wins there,' like some leagues have. You just don't have that in our league."

On if he thinks the ACC is better this season than it was expected to be:

"I think it's a lot better. I think early on from the press conference in New York City, the Big East was the chosen league this year. They've had some losses just like every other league has had...The problem with our league is good teams can go 8-8, and last year 8-8 wasn't good enough to get into the tournament, so you have to win."