Buy Tickets
Maryland begins play in the opening round of the 60th annual ACC Tournament in Greensboro when it takes on Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Thursday.
LIVE Coverage on ESPNU, the ACC Network & the Terrapin Sports Radio Network
• Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the ACC Network at 7 p.m. ET. Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Sean Farnham (analyst) and Jeannine Edwards (sidelines) will call the action for ESPNU. Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Dan Bonner (analyst) have the call for the ACC Network. Click here for a full affiliate listing. The game can also be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network - Johnny Holliday (pbp) and Chris Knoche (analyst) have the call. The game can also be seen on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. |
Storyline
• The Terrapins are the No. 7 seed and the Demon Deacons are the No. 10 seed, and will be meeting in the opening round for the second straight year. Last season, Maryland defeated Wake Forest 82-60. The winner of Thursday's game moves on the quarterfinals to face No. 2 seed Duke Friday at 7 p.m.
• The Terps are the seventh seed in the ACC Tournament for the 11th time (3-7 record). Maryland is 6-3 in matchups with Wake Forest, having won six straight. The Terps lost their first three tournament meetings with the Demon Deacons (1954, 1961, 1963), but started a six-game winning streak starting with the 1973 semifinals. The other wins have come in 1984, 2001, 2004, 2009 and 2012.
• Sophomores Dez Wells and Nick Faust have provided the majority of the scoring for Maryland recently. Wells is averaging 17.0 points per game over the last four contests and Faust is averaging 13.6 points per game over the last five. In the 61-58 overtime loss at Virginia on Sunday, Faust had a team-high 15 while Wells turned in his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
• Sophomore center Alex Len earned honorable mention All-ACC on Monday in balloting by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Len, who ranks second in the league with 60 blocks, was also named to the All-ACC Defensive Team. The Antratsit, Ukraine, native is averaging 11.8 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game.
• After holding Virginia to 36.8 percent shooting on Sunday, Maryland finished the regular season ranked first in the ACC and ninth nationally in field goal percentage defense. Opponents have shot just 37.9 percent this season, and the Terps held 11 of 18 league opponents under the 40 percent mark.
Maryland-Wake Forest Series History
• Maryland leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 68-56, which dates back to 1952-53. The Terps have won 11 of 13 since 2006, and six straight.
• In the ACC Tournament, the Terps have won six in a row over Wake, with the Demon Deacons' last win coming on Feb. 28, 1963. All-time at the ACC Tournament, Maryland leads 6-3.
• Maryland has won all four meetings with Wake Forest since Mark Turgeon took over as head coach, by an average margin of 16.0 points per game. In addition to the 86-60 win at home and the 67-57 win on the road this season, the Terps defeated the Demon Deacons 70-64 at home on 1/11/2012 and 82-60 on 3/8/2012 in the ACC Tournament first round.
Quick Hitters
• Mark Turgeon's current winning percentage of .587 (37-26) is the second-best mark by a Maryland coach in his first two seasons. Bud Millikan had a .592 winning percentage and Gary Williams had a .574 mark.
• Maryland has reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2009-10, when it went 24-9 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Mark Turgeon's teams have now won at least 20 games in five of the last six seasons and eight of the last 10. The exceptions are last season, Turgeon's first at Maryland, and 2006-07, his last at Wichita State. The Terps are one of six ACC teams to reach the 20-win mark; Miami, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and NC State also at least 20 wins.
• Logan Aronhalt connected on seven 3-pointers at Boston College on 2/19. That's the most by a Terp since Mike Jones hit a Comcast Center record nine on Dec. 28, 2006, vs. Missouri-Kansas City.
• Aronhalt's 26 points were the most by a Terrapin this season. Dez Wells has three 20-point efforts, while Alex Len, Jake Layman and Seth Allen each have one.
• Maryland did not beat a ranked opponent in either of the last two seasons. The Terps have knocked off two this year: No. 14/15 NC State, and No. 2/1 Duke.
• The Terps are 19-2 this season when they have the lead with 5:00 left in the game, and 1-0 when tied with 5:00 left. The losses came at Florida State (1/30) and at Virgina in overtime (3/10).
• The 13-game winning streak Maryland went on earlier this season is tied for the second longest in school history, trailing just the 14-game streak the Terps went on in 1931-32. Maryland also went on a 13-game win streak in 2001-02, the year they went on to win the national title.
• Logan Aronhalt is averaging one 3-point field goal made for every 8.1 minutes on the floor. By comparison, the ACC leader in 3PT FGs made, Scott Wood of NC State, makes one 3-pointer every 12.1 minutes on the floor.
• At least eight players have scored in 27 of Maryland's 31 games this year. The exceptions are vs. George Mason, at Miami, at North Carolina and vs. North Carolina, when just seven players scored.
• The Terps are 14-2 when making as many or more free throws than the opponent, and 6-9 when making fewer free throws.
• When Seth Allen, Jake Layman and Shaquille Cleare drew starts against UMES, it marked the first time Maryland started three true freshmen since Dec. 28, 1993, when Keith Booth, Matt Kovarik and Joe Smith did vs. Hofstra. The Terps have started three freshmen in a game four times this season.
Youth Movement
• Seven of the 10 players in Maryland's regular rotation are underclassmen and 81 percent of Maryland's scoring (56.9 of 70.6 points per game) is coming from underclassmen. Maryland's top four scorers are underclassmen in sophomores Dez Wells (12.2 ppg), Alex Len (11.8 ppg) and Nick Faust (8.9 ppg) and freshman Seth Allen (7.3 ppg).
• Just twice in the past 30 years has a larger percentage of Maryland's scoring come from underclassmen. In 2003-04, 82 percent came from underclassmen, and in 1993-94, 97 percent did.
• Additionally, 118 of 155 starts (76%) this season have gone to underclassmen. That is the second-highest percentage in the past 30 years, behind only 1993-94 when every start went to underclassmen.
• The Terps have just one 1,000-point scorer on the roster this season in graduate student Logan Aronhalt. Aronhalt scored 1,100 points at Albany before transferring to Maryland prior to this season. Maryland's next top scorers are Wells (691), James Padgett (646), Faust (562) and Len (498).
Hitting the Mark
• Maryland has assisted on 57 percent (460 of 813) of its field goals this season. The Terps have recorded double-digit assists in 28 of 31 games (exceptions are at Miami, at North Carolina and vs. North Carolina), and rank t-2nd in the ACC with 14.8 per game. Maryland is 17-3 when recording at least 14 assists.
• On average, Maryland has recorded 17.3 assists per game in wins, while in its losses it has averaged just 10.8.
Hot Shooting
• Maryland ranks third in the ACC in field goal percentage at .464, behind just NC State (.494) and Duke (.479). That marks also ranks 43rd nationally. The Terps have shot above 40 percent in 10 of the past 12 games. Maryland has shot better than 50 percent 11 times this season.
• Against Wake Forest (2/2), Maryland recorded its fifth-best field goal percentage in program history at .673. The four single-game marks better than that are: .833 (15-18) vs. South Carolina, 1/9/71; .739 (34-46) vs. Wake Forest, 1/28/86; .732 (30-41) vs. NC State, 12/20/80; and .704 (50-71) vs. Miami (OH), 12/28/79.
Field Goal Percentage Defense
• Maryland leads the ACC and ranks ninth nationally in field goal percentage defense at .379. The Terps have held 18 of the last 27 opponents under 40 percent shooting, including 11 of 18 ACC opponents.
Super Subs
• Maryland's bench has been an asset all season, as the Terps' non-starters have outscored the opponents non-starters in 26 of 31 games.
• On the year, Maryland's bench has a 773-367 (25.5 to 12.1 per game) advantage over the opponent.
• All 10 players in Maryland's regular rotation are averaging double-figure minutes, and no player is averaging more than 28 minutes per game (Dez Wells is first at 27.9).
• Logan Aronhalt has been a consistent contributor as a long-range specialist. He is 10 3-point field goals made shy of qualifying for the ACC lead, but his .448 mark from beyond the arc would lead the league. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 25 of 31 games this season. Of his 62 field goals made this season, 52 are 3-pointers.
Follow Maryland Athletics on Facebook & Twitter
Media Information
• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.
• GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2013 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.
