Mar. 7, 1997
Maryland Upsets Clemson in First Round of ACC Tourney
GREENSBORO, N.C.--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 win was only the third in the last 10 games for Maryland
(21-9), which will play the winner of the Duke-North Carolina
State game in the ACC semifinals. The Terps avenged two
regular season losses to Clemson.
Despite the loss, Clemson (21-9), the fourth seed in the ACC
Tournament, will likely receive an at-large bid to the NCAA
Tournament.
Greg Buckner led the Tigers with 17 points.
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
layup in the spurt.
Clemson pulled within five, 59-54, on a layup by Harold Jamison
with 5:36 remaining. But Maryland converted 14-of-15 free
throws in the final 5:15 to seal the win. Booth finished the
game 13-of-14 from the free throw line.
Terrell Stokes had 17 points and Sarunas Jasikevicius added 14
for the Terps.
Merl Code had 14 points for Clemson.
The Tigers raced to an 11-2 lead in the first 7:46. Maryland
then reeled off 16 straight points. Ekezie had two layups and a
dunk and Stokes added a pair of layups in the spurt. A layup by
Booth capped the run and gave Maryland an 18-11 advantage with
6:45 left in the half.
A five-foot jumper by Laron Profit 14 seconds into the second
half increased Maryland's advantage to 33-25.
Clemson pulled within 45-44 on a pair of free throws by Terrell
McIntyre with 12:57 remaining. But Ekezie converted a pair of
free throws and Jasikevicius hit a running jumper to spark the
decisive 11-0 run.
MARYLAND (76)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Booth 34 3-10 13-14 2-6 3 4 19
Profit 27 3-6 0-0 1-5 0 1 6
Ekezie 38 6-10 8-12 3-10 1 2 20
Stokes 35 6-8 2-2 0-1 4 3 17
Jasikevicius 31 4-7 5-5 1-1 0 3 14
Kovarik 18 0-0 0-0 0-3 3 1 0
Elliott 17 0-4 0-0 1-6 1 4 0
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TOTALS 200 22-45 28-33 8-32 12 18 76
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Percentages: FG-.489, FT-.848. 3-Point Goals:
4-11, .364 (Booth 0-1, Profit 0-2, Stokes 3-4,
Jasikevicius 1-3, Elliott 0-1). Team rebounds: 6.
Blocked shots: 3 (Ekezie 3). Turnovers: 18 (Booth
5, Profit 5, Ekezie 3, Jasikevicius 2, Elliott,
Kovarik). Steals: 4 (Booth 2, Profit, Stokes).
CLEMSON (61)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Buckner 35 6-11 4-7 1-4 1 3 17
Iturbe 28 3-10 1-5 0-3 3 5 8
Jurkunas 17 2-6 0-0 1-1 0 2 4
Code 31 4-9 2-2 0-1 1 0 14
Mcintyre 39 2-8 5-5 0-3 8 3 9
Jamison 28 4-6 0-0 2-5 0 3 8
Christie 10 0-0 1-2 1-2 0 2 1
Wideman 5 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 5 0
Whitt 5 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Wonl 2 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
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TOTALS 200 21-52 13-23 6-22 13 24 61
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Percentages: FG-.404, FT-.565. 3-Point Goals:
6-17, .353 (Buckner 1-3, Iturbe 1-4, Jurkunas
0-1, Code 4-8, Mcintyre 0-1). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 2 (Jurkunas, Jamison). Turnovers:
11 (Iturbe 5, Buckner 2, Wideman 2, Jamison,
Mcintyre). Steals: 3 (Buckner, Jurkunas, Whitt).
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Maryland 31 45 - 76
Clemson 25 36 - 61
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Technical fouls: None. A: 23,250. Officials:
Dick Paparo, Samuel Croft, Carl Hess.
