Dec. 3, 1997
Terps to Open ACC Season on the Road at Clemson
Earliest conference opener in program history
NO. 23 MARYLAND TERRAPINS (3-1, 0-0 ACC)
AT
NO. 17 CLEMSON TIGERS (3-2, 0-0 ACC)
THURSDAY DECEMBER 4, 1997; 9:00 P.M.
LITTLEJOHN COLISEUM/11,020
CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA
JEFFERSON PILOT TELEVISION
LEARFIELD/MARYLAND RADIO NETWORK
TERPS TRAVEL TO CLEMSON TO OPEN ACC SCHEDULE
Maryland opens its 1997-98 Atlantic Coast Conference season as it travels to Clemson to play the Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum. Tonight's game marks the earliest Atlantic Coast Conference game ever for the Terps and only their third ever conference game in the month of December. Maryland has won three of its last four ACC openers under Head Coach Gary Williams. Maryland brings a three-game winning streak into tonight's contest.
TERPS RANKED NO. 23 BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maryland is ranked 23rd in this week's Associated Press poll. The Terps were ranked 24th in last weeks poll and recorded a 1-0 record last week. It marks the second conscutive AP poll this season that the Terps have been included in and the 14th time in the last 15 regular season polls that Maryland has been ranked in the Top-25. The Terps were ranked as high as No. 5 last season.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR...
...Look for Maryland to win its ACC opener for the second consecutive season. The Terps defeated Georgia Tech, 77-63, on December 12 of last season in Cole Field House.
MARYLAND IS...
...2-1 this season when junior All-America candidate Laron Profit leads the team in scoring;
...1-0 this season when senior forward Rodney Elliott leads the team in scoring;
...1-0 this season when every dressed player scores and has at least one assist as in its victory over Florida International.
THE LAST TIME...
...Every Maryland player who dressed for a game scored at least one point prior to the Terps victory over Florida International was December 12, 1994 against Towson State.
Associated Press Top 25
December 1, 1997
1) Duke 5-0
2) Kansas 6-0
3) North Carolina 6-0
4) Arizona 4-1
5) South Carolina 2-0
6) Purdue 5-1
7) Kentucky 4-1
8) New Mexico 5-0
9) Xavier 3-0
10) Iowa 3-0
11) Utah 5-0
12) Stanford 4-0
13) Connecticut 5-1
14) Mississippi 3-0
15) UCLA 2-1
16) Fresno State 3-1
17) Clemson 3-2
18) Arkansas 4-0
19) Florida State 4-1
20) Temple 2-1
21) Georgia 5-1
22) Georgia Tech 4-0
23) MARYLAND 3-1
24) Wake Forest 5-0
25) Princeton 4-0
ESPN/USA Today
December 1, 1997
1) Duke (13) 733
2) North Carolina(7) 713
3) Kansas (10) 709
4) Arizona 629
5) Purdue 616
6) South Carolina 569
7) Kentucky 534
8) New Mexico 521
9) Xavier 508
10) Utah 450
11) Stanford 385
12) Iowa 370
13) Connecticut 351
14) Mississippi 282
15) UCLA 274
16) Clemson 260
17) Fresno State 215
18) Florida State 191
19) Temple 166
20) Princeton 136
21) Arkansas 130
22) Georgia 122
23) Georgia Tech 118
24) Wake Forest 114
25) Louisville 109
(ARV - Maryland 78-26th place)
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Laron Profit
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THIS AND THAT
...Junior All-America candidate Laron Profit has more steals (12) than fouls (11);
...Senior guard Sarunas Jasikevicius has more assists (16) than fouls (11);
...Freshman Terence Morris, a candidate for ACC Rookie-of-the-Year honors, has more blocked shots (6) and steals (6) than fouls (4);
...Junior Terrell Stokes has more assists (18) than turnovers (10).
TERPS VS. THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Maryland was one of eight charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference when it was formed on May 8, 1953. Maryland won its first ever ACC game as it defeated South Carolina, 53-49, to open the 1953-54 season. The Terps finished the season with a 7-2 conference record, good for a 2nd place finish. The Terps lost to Wake Forest in the semifinals of the inaugural ACC Tournament. The Terps have won two ACC Championships and have finished above .500 30 times since the beginning of ACC play.
TERPS IN ACC OPENERS
Maryland begins its 45th season of Atlantic Coast Conference play tonight versus Clemson. Maryland has an all-time 26-18 (.590) record in ACC season openers. Under Gary Williams, Maryland has a 4-4 record. Maryland has won three of its last four and each of its two ACC season openers with Clemson.
TERPS AND THE ACC IN DECEMBER
The Terps are playing their third regularly scheduled ACC game in December during the history of the program. Tonight's game versus Clemson marks the earliest conference opener in school history. Maryland opened its ACC slate last on December 12 as it defeated Georgia Tech, 77-63, and played host to Georgia Tech on December 23, 1981. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Terps that night, 45-43.
TOUGH DEFENSE IN THE PAINT
Junior center Obinna Ekezie and freshman center Mike Mardesich lead the team with seven blocked shots each entering tonight's game versus Clemson. As a team Maryland has twice as many blocked shots (32) as its opponents (16) and has blocked at least four shots in each game this season. The Terps blocked a season-high 10 shots against South Carolina in the season opener on November 14. Maryland enters tonight's game with an 8.0 blocks per game average as compared to last seasons 3.5 blocks per game average. The single season record for team blocks in a season is 6.2 during the 1990-91 season. The Terps did not accumulate 32 blocked shots until game Number 7 last season.
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Terrell Stokes. (File photo)
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TERPS PASS-HAPPY OFFENSE LEADS TO MANY BASKETS
Junior All-ACC candidate Terrell Stokes leads a cast of three Maryland players who are all averaging 4.0 assists per game or more entering tonight's ACC opener versus Clemson. As a team Maryland has been credited with more than twice as many assists (95) than its opponents (46) and are averaging an assist on more than 70 percent of their baskets.
Game FGM A FG:B Pct.
#7 South Carolina 16 24 66.7
Fairleigh Dickinson 26 31 83.8
Mt. St. Mary's 28 37 75.7
Fla. International 42 25 59.5
Totals 95 134 70.9
Terps by the Numbers
5 Sophomore Matt Hahn scored five points against Mt. St. Mary's - he had scored four during his entire freshman season.
6 Junior All-ACC candidate Terrell Stokes grabbed a career-high six rebounds against Florida International.
8 Senior Sarunas Jasikevicius grabbed a career-high eight rebounds against Florida International.
8.5 Freshman Mike Mardesich is averaging 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in the last two Terp victories.
10 Freshman Terence Morris, a candidate for ACC Rookie-of-the-Year honors, is averaging 10.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the last two games.
12 Senior forward Rodney Elliott has attempted 12 free throws in two of Maryland's four games this season - against South Carolina and Florida International.
13 Redshirt junior forward Brian Watkins has scored 13 points (6.5 ppg) and grabbed 10 rebounds (5.0 rpg) in the last two Maryland victories.
70 Junior All-America candidate Laron Profit has made 70 percent (14-20) of his field goal attempts in the last two games.
70 Junior forward Obinna Ekezie has made 70 percent (14-20) of his field goal attempts in the last two games.
77.8 Senior guard Matt Kovarik has hit 77.8 (7-9) of his field goal attempts in the last two games.
PROFIT REACHES 100 CAREER STEALS
Junior All-America candidate Laron Profit, who enters tonight's game versus Clemson with 108 career steals, became only the 12th player in school history with at least 100 career steals earlier this season. His 100th career steal came in the second half of Maryland's victory against Fairleigh Dickinson on November 18. He became the 4th fastest player in school history to reach the milestone as he hit the century mark after only 69 games.
FASTEST TO 100 STEALS CHART
Rank Game Player Date Career Steals
1. 39 Johnny Rhodes Jan. 8, 1994 344
2. 57 Dutch Morley Feb. 24, 1980 170
3. 67 Walt Williams Dec. 27, 1990 175
4. 69 Laron Profit Nov. 22, 1997 108
VERSUS CLEMSON IN ACC SEASON OPENERS
Maryland is 2-0 in ACC season openers against Clemson. The Terps defeated the Tigers to open their 1972-73 and 1973-74 conference slates. Maryland won at Clemson to begin the 1972-73 conference season and won at home to begin the 1973-74 ACC schedule. Maryland won 23 games both seasons it opened with Clemson.
CAREER HIGHS WERE ESTABLISHED AGAINST FL. INTERNATIONAL BY...
...Freshman Terence Morris who scored a career-high 11 points;
...Senior forward Rodney Elliott who made a career-high 10 free throws;
...Senior guard Sarunas Jasikevicius who grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds;
...Junior guard Terrell Stokes who grabbed a career-high tying 8 rebounds;
...Junior guard Norman Fields who dished out a career-high 2 assists;
...Sophomore guard Matt Hahn who dished out a career-high tying 1 assist.
PROBABLE STARTERS FOR MARYLAND....
F #25 Rodney Elliott (16.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg: 10 pts, 5 rebs vs. Clem, 2-8-97)
C #54 Obinna Ekezie (13.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg: 20 pts, 10 rebs vs. Clem, 3-7-97)
G #3 Laron Profit (21.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg: 14 pts, 6 rebs vs. Clem, 2-8-97)
G #12 Terrell Stokes (6.3 ppg, 4.5 apg: 17 pts, 4 asts vs. Clem, 3-7-97)
G #13 Sarunas Jasikevicius (9.3 ppg, 3.5 apg: 14 pts, 1 reb vs. Clem, 3-7-97)
....AND TOP SUBS
F #44 Terence Morris (7.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg; Inaugural ACC game)
G #11 Matt Kovarik (4.3 ppg, 1.5 apg: 2 pts, 2 stls vs. Clem, 1-15-97)
C #33 Mike Mardesich (6.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg: Inaugural ACC game)
F #45 Brian Watkins (3.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg: 2 pts, 1 blk vs. Clem, 2-8-97)
TONIGHT'S REFEREES
Tonight's referee is Frank Scagliotta and the umpires are Larry Rose and Stan Rote.
MARYLAND VERSUS CLEMSON- THE SERIES BY THE NUMBERS
The Series: Maryland leads, 68-40
Last Maryland Win: March 7, 1997; 76-61
Last Clemson Win: February 8, 1997; 68-60
Last Maryland Win at Littlejohn: January 25, 1995, 55-51
Last Clemson Win at Littlejohn: February 8, 1997, 68-60
Maryland vs. Clemson, Current Streak: Maryland has won 1
Maryland vs. Clemson, Last Ten: The series is tied 5-5
Gary Williams vs. Clemson Career: 8-10 (at Maryland)
TERPS VS. CLEMSON- THE LAST FOUR GAMES
March 7, 1997 Feb. 8, 1997 Jan. 15, 1997 Feb. 26, 1996
Maryland 76 at Clemson 68 Clemson 67 at Clemson 68
Clemson 61 Maryland 60 at Maryland 63 Maryland 61
at ACC Tourn.
Terps By The Numbers
3 Senior forward Rodney Elliott scored his third career-double/double of 20 points and 10 rebounds against Florida International.
5.8 Maryland is making an average of 5.8 three-point shots per game this season as compared to its success rate of 3.7 per game last season. The all-time school single season average is 6.3 made during the 1987-88 season.
8 Different players are averaging in double figures in minutes played entering tonight's game versus Clemson. No player is averaging more than 30 minutes per game and only four times has a player played more than 30 minutes in a game this season.
27.3 Maryland's starting five is averaging 27.3 minutes per game and are combining for an average of 66.9 points per game.
45.5 Maryland made a season high 45.5 percent (5-11 ) of its three-point shot attempts against Florida International.
57 Maryland grabbed a season high 57 rebounds against Florida International - the most by a Terp team since they grabbed 68 against Chicago State on December 2, 1996.
101 Redshirt senior guard Matt Kovarik will play in his 102nd career game versus Clemson tonight.
117 Maryland scored a season high 117 points against Florida International - a season-high 53 in the first half and a season-high 64 in the second half.
TERPS AGAINST CLEMSON - THE LAST TIME
Maryland 76, Clemson 61, ACC Tournament
Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C., March 7, 1997
Obinna Ekezie scored 20 points and Keith Booth added 19 to lead 22nd-ranked Maryland to a 76-61 victory over 13th-ranked Clemson in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament the last time these two teams met. Booth scored the final seven points in an 11-0 second half run which opened a 56-44 lead for Maryland. He completed a three-point play, converted a pair of free throws and hit a lay-up in the spurt. Terrell Stokes had 17 points and Sarunas Jasikevicius added 14 for the Terps.
ALL THE TERPS WANT IS A COUPLE OF DAYS OFF
Maryland has won eight in a row and is 12-1 under Gary Williams when they are given at least one week off from the schedule. Of the 12 victories, four have come against ACC teams (three against N.C. State, 1 against Fla. State).
NO WHISTLES AGAINST EKEZIE
Junior center Obinna Ekezie was not whistled for a foul against Florida International and scored his season high of 18 points. It marked the third time during his career that he had not been called for a foul; Maryland is now 3-0 during his career when he is foul-less during a game.
PROFIT SIZZILING IN THE LAST TWO GAMES
Junior All-America Candidate Laron Profit is averaging 18 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the last two games. He is shooting 70 percent (14-20) from the field and is currently enjoying the best four game scoring streak of his career. Profit enters tonight's game versus Clemson averaging 21.8 points and 7.5 rebounds and has scored at least 21 points in three of Maryland's first four games.
PROFIT FROM THE FREE THROW LINE
Junior All-America candidate Laron Profit is shooting a stellar 76.9 percent from the free throw line this season. He has hit seven of his last nine attempts in the last three games. Profit's current 76.9 percent success rate from the free throw line is a single season career-high and he made his 100th career free throw against Florida International.
Season FTM FTA FT%
1997-98 10 13 76.9
1996-97 57 91 62.6
1995-96 34 45 75.6
101 149 67.7
TERPS FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGES SHOOTING UPWARDS
Maryland shot a season-high 59.7 (31-76) percent from the field versus Mt. St. Mary's and has shot 59 percent or better from the field in each of its last two games. The Terps enter tonight's game with a season-high 49.8 mark from the field. Maryland has raised its field goal shooting percentage from 40.4 after the first two games of the season to its current season-high of 49.8 - an improvement of nearly 10 percentage points.
Game FGM FGA FG%
#7 South Carolina 24 60 40.0
Fairleigh Dickinson 31 76 40.8
Mt. St. Mary's 37 62 59.7
Fla. International 42 71 59.2
134 269 .498
Terps By The Numbers
1 Freshmen stars Mike Mardesich and Terence Morris have blocked at least one shot each in all of Maryland's first four games.
3 Maryland is undefeated, 3-0, when it outscores its opponent.
10.5 Maryland is averaging a +10.5 rebounds margin per game through its first four games of the season.
10.4 Junior All-America candidate Laron Profit enters tonight's game versus Clemson with a 10.4 points per game career scoring average.
12 Assists by junior Obinna Ekezie this season - he recorded 10 during his entire freshman season.
11 Freshman Terence Morris, a candidate for ACC Rookie-of-the-Year honors, scored 11 points against Florida International - the most points by a Terp newcomer this season.
36.4 Maryland's opponents are shooting 36.4 percent from the field and only one team has shot above 40 percent from the field in four games this season.
101 Senior Sarunas Jasikevicius and junior All-America candidate Laron Profit have both passed the 100 career free-throws made plateau this season and enter tonight's game with 101 career free-throws made.
FOUR REGULARS AT 50 PERCENT OR BETTER FROM THE FIELD
Led by junior All-America candidate Laron Profit (57.4 FG%), a total of four regulars are shooting 50 percent or better from the field. Profit's team leading 57.4 percent is followed by senior guard Matt Kovarik at 57.1 percent, junior center Obinna Ekezie's 55.9 percent and junior All-ACC candidate Terrell Stokes' 50.0 percent.
JUST LIKE A HOMECOMING FOR JASIKEVICIUS
Senior Sarunas Jasikevicius will realize a sort of homecoming tonight when he steps onto the court versus Clemson. Jasikevicius knows a pair of Tigers - Johnny Miller and Andrius Jurkunas - quite well. He played in the same backcourt with Miller as a senior at Solanco (Pa.) High School and grew up about 10 minutes from Jurkunas in their hometown of Kaunas, Lithuania.
MORRIS AND MARDESICH ON THE BLOCKS
Freshman Terence Morris, a candidate for ACC Rookie-of-the-Year honors, and Mike Mardesich have each blocked at least one shot in each of the Terps four games so far this season. Mardesich is tied for first on the team with seven rejections while Morris is next with six rejections.
ELLIOTT NEARS CAREER HIGH VERSUS FLA. INTERNATIONAL
Senior forward Rodney Elliott nearly matched his career high of 22 as he scored a season-high 20 points against Florida International. It marked only the second time during his career that he had scored 20 points or more in a single game. In addition, he has scored in double figures in the first four games of the season for the first time in his career.
GETTING THE BALL INSIDE TO ELLIOTT
Senior forward Rodney Elliott has made more free throws (26) than any other Terps player has attempted this season. Junior Obinna Ekezie has attempted 24 as compared to Elliott's 34. Elliott has twice attempted 12 free throws in a single game (against South Carolina and Florida International) and has hit 19 of his last 22 in the last three games.
ELLIOTT FROM THE FREE THROW LINE IN THE LAST THREE GAMES
Senior forward Rodney Elliott has hit 19 of his last 22 free throw attempts entering tonight's game versus Clemson. Elliott, who is shooting 86.3 percent from the line in the last three games, shot 51.9 percent from the free throw line as a freshman.
Game FTM FTA FT%
Fairleigh Dickinson 5 6 83.3
Mt. St. Mary's 4 4 1.000
Fla. International 10 12 83.3
19 22 86.3%
HOT SHOOTING EKEZIE IS GOOD NEWS FOR MARYLAND
Maryland is 2-0 this season when junior Obinna Ekezie shoots 50 percent or better from the field. He enters tonight's game against Clemson having shot a combined 70 percent (14-20) from the field in the last two games (66.7 against Mt. St. Mary's / 72.7 against Florida International).
GARY WILLIAMS CAREER RECORD
Gary Williams Career Record 353-230 .605 20th season
Gary Williams at Maryland 146-102 .589 9th season
Quoting Maryland Basketball
1) "The expectations on the Terps will be higher this year as the schedule gets tougher. The rest of the league awaits the challenge of beating the Terps and the young foundation of the team begins its junior season. The best thing to come out of last year is that the young players -- Profit, Stokes and Ekezie -- learned they could be successful against the best teams in college basketball. That will do them a world of good going into this season."
Tim Peeler
Blue Ribbon College
Basketball Yearbook 1997-98
2) "Sarunas Jasikevicius got more quality playing time last year because he developed all of the other skills needed to be a productive shooting guard. His defense got better, good enough to draw tough assignments like Virginia's Curtis Staples or Florida State's James Collins. His passing got creative, without being overly risky, as he thrilled the Cole Field House crowd with many of his alley-oop lobs to teammates. He was also second on the team to Stokes with 98 assists."
Tim Peeler
1997 Blue Ribbon College basketball Yearbook
3) "Terrell Stokes is a strong penetrator and a good defender who played more than 1,000 minutes last year, which is a feat for a point guard considering Maryland's aggressive, pressing style. There were times he could make things happen as well as any point guard in the conference. When Stokes does the things he is supposed to, he is an valuable asset."
Tim Peeler
1997 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook
TERPS FROM THE FIELD THIS SEASON
Every member of the Terps regular rotation has seen a dramatic increase in his shooting percentage in the games against Mt. St. Mary's and Florida International (games 3-4) when compared the games against South Carolina and Fairleigh Dickinson (games 1-2).
Player Games 1-2 Games 3-4 Improvement
Laron Profit 21-41 (51.2) 14-20 (70.0) +18.8%
Rodney Elliott 8-19 (42.1) 9-21 (42.8) +0.7%
Obinna Ekezie 5-14 (35.7) 14-20 (70.0) +34.3%
Sar. Jasikevicius 7-18 (38.8) 6-12 (50.0) +11.2%
Terrell Stokes 5-12 (41.7) 4-6 (66.7) +25.0%
Terence Morris 5-13 (38.4) 7-12 (58.3) +19.9%
Mike Mardesich 3-11 (27.2) 7-14 (50.0) +22.8%
Matt Kovarik 1-5 (20.0) 7-9 (77.8) +57.8%
Brian Watkins 0-1 (00.0) 5-9 (55.6) +55.6%
EKEZIE CUTTING DOWN ON FOULS
Junior Obinna Ekezie, who will start his 40th consecutive game versus Clemson tonight, has worked very hard to keep himself on the court by cutting down on his fouls. He is committing only 3.0 fouls per game (12 in four games this season) and has committed only two fouls in his last 52 minutes over the last two games played.
Season Fouls Games M/G F/G
1997-98 12 4 25.8 3.0
1996-97 106 32 26.8 3.3
1995-96 78 30 15.4 2.6
GIVING IS SAID TO BE BETTER THAN RECEIVING
Maryland is averaging 23.8 assists per game as a team entering tonight's game versus Clemson. No Maryland team has ever averaged more than 20 assists per game for an entire season. The school record for assists per game for a single season is 18.8 by the 1994-95 team which had a record of 26-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament "Sweet 16".
TERPS FREE THROW PERCENTAGES ALSO RUSHING UP
Maryland shot 66.7 percent (28-52) from the free throw line against Florida International and has hit 51 of its last 75 shots (68.0 percent) in the last two games. That is an improvement from the first two games of the season when the Terps hit 30 of 46 attempts (65.2 percent).
Player Games 1-2 Games 3-4 Season
Laron Profit 4-5 (80.0) 6-8 (75.0) 10-13 (76.9)
Rodney Elliott 12-18 (66.7) 14-16 (87.5) 26-34 (76.5)
Obinna Ekezie 7-10 (70.0) 7-14 (50.0) 14-24 (.583)
Terrell Stokes 0-2 (00.0) 2-2 (1.00) 2-4 (50.0)
Sar. Jasikevicius 6-10 (60.0) 2-4 (50.0) 8-14 (66.7)
Mike Mardesich 1-2 (50.0) 3-4 (75.0) 4-6 (66.7)
Terence Morris 0-1 (00.0) 6-8 (75.0) 6-9 (66.7)
Matt Kovarik 0-0 (.000) 1-4 (25.0) 1-4 (25.0)
Brian Watkins 0-0 (00.0) 3-5 (60.0) 3-5 (60.0)
LEARFIELD RADIO - THE MARYLAND RADIO NETWORK
All of Maryland's games this season - home and away - will be heard live on the Learfield/Maryland Radio Network.
The Terps will be heard on the flagship stations, WBAL (1090-AM) and WMAL (630-AM) which combine to give Maryland one of the strongest combination of broadcast signals of any collegiate basketball team in the nation. The Terps can now be heard from Maine to Florida.
Johnny Holliday, now in his 19th season, will once again serve as the voice of the Terps. He is joined once again by former Terps all-star Greg Manning, currently in his 12th season with the broadcast team.
Maryland Radio Network
Flagship Stations
WBAL-AM Balt, Md. 1090
WMAL-AM Wash-D.C. 630
WAMD-AM Aberdeen 970
WI00-AM Carlisle, Pa. 1000
WTBO-AM Cumberland 1450
WSER-AM Elkton 1550 930
WFMD-AM Frederick 930
WARK-AM Hagerstown 1450
WMSG-AM Mtn Lake Pk 1050 1050
WKHW-FM Pocomoke Ct 106.5
WTGM-FM Salisbury 960
WTTR-AM Westminster 1470
GARY WILLIAMS MARYLAND'S RADIO SPORTSLINE
John Wagner, University System Radio-TV Director, provides actualities and interviews for radio for Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams. Stations can access these sound bites by calling the Sportsline at (301) 779-6397. Features will be available at noon on gamedays during the week, and Friday evening for weekend games.
GETTING BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND
As a team, Maryland is shooting better in the second half (51.2 percent vs. 48.8 percent) as compared to the first half.
Opponent 1st half 2nd Half OT Game
#7 South Carolina 13-29 (44.8) 8-24 (33.3) 3-7 (42.9) 24-60 (40.0)
Fairleigh Dickinson 16-38 (40.8) 15-38 (39.4) 31-76 (40.8)
Mt. St. Mary's 19-35 (54.3) 18-27 (66.7) 37-62 (59.7)
Fla. International 18-33 (54.5) 24-38 (63.2) 42-71 (59.2)
Totals 66-135 (48.8) 65-127 (51.2) 3-7 (42.9) 134-269 (49.8)
TERPS STAYING ON THE COURT - LEADING TO VICTORIES
Maryland is 1-1 this season when one or more players foul out of a game and 2-0 when no Terps foul out of a game. Both Rodney Elliott and Obinna Ekezie fouled out against South Carolina in the season opener while Elliott fouled out of the Terps' home opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. Maryland displayed its quality depth against both Mt. St. Mary's and Florida International with no players being disqualified and only three players being called for four fouls.
T MORRIS AMONG TOP SCORERS
Freshman Terence Morris, who is a candidate for ACC Rookie-of-the-Year honors, is among the Terps leaders in scorers despite not having started a game. He averages 7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while averaging 18.3 minutes played per game. He is one of only two Terp players (All-America candidate Laron Profit is the other) to enter tonight's game averaging one or more assists, blocked shots and steals per game.
JASIKEVICIUS TURNS UP THE HEAT AGAINST FLA. INTERNATIONAL
Senior guard Sarunas Jasikevicius grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and shot a season-high 80.0 percent (4-5) from the field against Florida International.
KOVARIK NAMED TO NABC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
Senior Matt Kovarik was recently named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches academic honor roll. The honor roll salutes players who are entering their junior or senior seasons and who hold a 3.2 or better grade point average. Kovarik is a business major.
TERPS SELECTED FOURTH BY ACC WRITERS
Maryland was selected to finish fourth in the pre-season poll by the Atlantic Coast Conference Sportswriters Association. The Terps were predicted to finish in the upper echelon of the ACC for the fifth consecutive season.
1997-98 ACSWA PRE-SEASON PREDICATIONS
1. Duke (45) 730
2. North Carolina (43) 727
3. Clemson (2) 628
4. MARYLAND 429
5. N.C. State 391
6. Wake Forest 335
7. Florida State 324
8. Virginia 177
9. Georgia Tech 174
TERPS SIGN TWO PLAYERS ON FIRST DAY OF SIGNING PERIOD
Maryland signed a pair of Blue-Chip high school players, guard Danny Miller and forward Lonnie Baxter, on the first day of the current National Letter of Intent signing period. At 6-6, Miller (Mt. Holly, N.J./Rancocas Valley H.S.) is rated as the 11th best high school prospect in the nation while the 6-8 Baxter (Rockville, Md./Hargrave Military Academy) is rated among the top 50.
TERPS BY THE NUMBERS IN 1997-98
Overall Record: 3-1 When Outrebound Opponent: 3-1
ACC Record: 0-0 When Outrebounded by Opp: 0-0
Home Record: 3-0 When Rebounds are Equal: 0-0
Road Record: 0-0 When Leading at Half-time: 3-0
Neutral Site Record: 0-1 When Trailing at Half-time: 0-0
Day Games: 0-0 When Tied at Half-time: 0-1
Night Games: 3-1 When Shoot Better from Field: 2-1
In Home ACC Games: 0-0 When Shoot Worse from Field: 1-0
In Road ACC Games: 0-0 Versus a Ranked Opponent: 0-1
When Score At Least 80 Points: 3-0 When Score 100+ Points: 2-0
When Score Under 80 Points: 0-1
TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER
Gary Williams holds a 13-3 record against his former assistant coaches. He holds a 5-3 record against Rick Barnes (assistant under Williams at Ohio State; Head Coach at Clemson and Providence), is 7-0 against Chris Knoche (assistant at American, Head Coach at American) and is 1-0 against Fran Dunphy (assistant at American, head Coach at Pennsylvania).
UPCOMING MILESTONES
Laron Profit
Career Steals
108 (current)
+ 7 (needs)
115
(to move into 10th place
all-time in school history)
Laron Profit
Career Points
637 (current)
+ 363 (needs)
1,000
(to become the 33rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points)
Terrell Stokes
Career Assists
246 (current)
+ 101 (needs)
347
(to move past Ernie Graham into 10th place all-time in school history)
Terrell Stokes
Career Steals
90 (current)
+25 (needs)
115
(to move into 10th place
all-time in school history)
Sarunas Jasikevicius
Career Three-Pt. Shots Made
79 (current)
+ 21 (needs)
100
(to become the sixth player to hit 100 or more career three-point shots).
