20th Anniversary - 2002 Men's Basketball National Championship

2/24/2022

2002 Maryland men's basketball team posed with trophies

A Season To Remember

It made up for all the heartaches, all the embarrassment, all the bitter losses in one maddening March after another.

With a 62-54 victory over Indiana on April 1, 2002, the Maryland Terrapins were no longer defined by their past, but as champions.

There was a time when Maryland was known as the best college basketball team to never win a championship and Gary Williams was the best coach to never win a title, but no more.

It was a season that will be celebrated then, now and forever.

Georgia Dome scoreboard declaring Maryland the 2002 National Champions

2002 THROWBACKS

NO. 1 MARYLAND VS. NO. 16 SIENA

In front of a pro Terps crowd in Washington D.C., the Terps started off their national title campaign with an 85-70 win over Siena.
Juan Dixon was spectacular, scoring 29 points on 10-17 shooting, including 5-8 from beyond the arc. Lonny Baxter scored 14 points and had nine rebounds.
Dixon, who scored 20 in the first half, fell two points short of matching the school record shared for points in an NCAA tournament game, held jointly by Len Bias and Joe Smith.
The Terps were played in a building they'd played two games in each of the five previous seasons.
The Terps advanced to face eighth-seeded Wisconsin, who defeated St. John's in the East Region 8 vs. 9 game.
"You always feel pressure. What do you say if you lose a game like that, and the No. 1 seed? `I'm going to Mexico?' You don't say I'm going to Disneyland, I know that." - Gary Williams
"Once he gets his confidence, he can't be stopped. I told him to keep shooting, because he was making them. His shooting was a big difference in the game." - Byron Mouton

#1 MARYLAND 87, #8 WISCONSIN 57

Maryland advanced to the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in nine years with a dominant 87-57 win over Wisconsin at the MCI Center.
The story of the day was Juan Dixon, who scored 29 points on the day on 10-of-19 shooting. Dixon broke the late Len Bias' Maryland record for career points and passed Bias' mark for points scored in the NCAA Tournament by a Maryland player.
The win helped the 2001-02 Terps match the 1998-99 team for most wins in a season. They also set a school mark for margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game.
The Terps got 18 points and seven rebounds from Chris Wilcox while Lonny Baxter scored 16 points and had seven rebounds.
The Terps led by eight at the half, but outscored the Badgers 49-27 in the second half.
They advanced to face fourth-seeded Kentucky in the regionals semifinals.
"When we play like that, we don't think a lot of teams can play with us." And the few that can will have a hard time withstanding our punch. We're not trying to be cocky, but that's the way we feel. I think you saw that tonight." - Drew Nicholas

#1 MARYLAND 78, #4 KENTUCKY 68

Drew Nicholas' 3-pointer with 9:54 left gave Maryland the lead for good at 56-53, but the Wildcats wouldn't let the Terrapins pull away.
Despite a quiet second half from All-American Juan Dixon, top-seeded Maryland just moved right along Friday night, beating Kentucky 78-68 in the East Regional semifinals.
Dixon did lead the Terps with 19 points, which was 10 shy of his totals from Maryland's first two tournament victories.
“Today I didn't have to score 29. I only needed to score 19 and make some defensive plays.” said Dixon.
Lonny Baxter chipped in 16 points for Maryland, while Chris Wilcox had 15 and Byron Mouton 14.
Quotable: “We are not surprised when we win. We go in thinking we're good enough to win and when we do, we move on to the next game.” - Gary Williams

Juan Dixon vs. UConn in 2002 NCAA Regional Final

#1 MARYLAND 90, #2 UCONN 82

With 25 second left and the shot clock nearing zero, Blake sank a 3-pointer for his first bucket of the game, leading top-seeded Maryland to a 90-82 victory over Connecticut and a second straight trip to the Final Four.
That put Maryland up 86-80 and was the clinching blow in a tremendous display of basket-for-basket play. There were eight ties and seven lead changes in the final 13 minutes.
"That shot was the biggest one I could hit for this team," said Blake, who missed his only two attempts until then. "At the last timeout, I told the guys to look for me. I was just kind of freelancing. I knew if I hit the shot it would be tough for them. I just got a good look as the shot clock was winding down."
Lonny Baxter had a season-high 29 points, and Dixon scored 27 for Maryland (30-4), which reached the 30-victory mark for the first time.
Baxter, the regional's Most Outstanding Player, was 7-for-12 from the field, 15-for-18 from the free throw line and grabbed nine rebounds.
Chris Wilcox added 13 points for Maryland, which shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53) from the field and was 31-for-35 on free throws. The Terrapins were the first team this season to shoot better than 50 percent against the Huskies.
Quotable: "We have tough guys. We didn't think we would lose this game. We're going back. We want to do something this year." - Gary Williams

Steve Blake vs. Kansas in the 2002 Final Four

#1 MARYLAND 97, #1 KANSAS 88

Superstar Juan Dixon matched his career-high with 33 points to lead the Terrapins to their first appearance in the NCAA Championship game in their history.
Chris Wilcox got the better of a key matchup against All-American Drew Gooden, scoring 18 points while keeping Gooden largely in check.
Maryland fell behind early in the game, 13-2, but took its first lead on a pull-up 3-pointer by Dixon with seven minutes left in the half.
The Terps built an 83-63 lead, before the Jayhawks staged a massive comeback and trailed by four points with just 19 seconds left. Kansas was issued a technical, however, when one of its players then called a timeout the team did not have.
Lonny Baxter battled foul trouble throughout the game, picking up two fouls in the first three minutes of the first half and only playing 14 total.
The Jayhawks were stacked with talent, including six players who would go on to play in the NBA: Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Nick Collison, Wayne Simien, Aaron Miles and Keith Langford
Quotable: "I don't think I'll ever forget last year until we win a national championship." - Lonny Baxter

Two elite teams battle for a place in the title game.@GARYWILLIAMS02 and @ExCoachKnoche break down the first half of the Terps' Final Four victory over Kansas in episode one of the Film Room.

Buy tickets to the 2002 reunion: https://t.co/V0ishIuZtX pic.twitter.com/0oFnrNooxG
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 22, 2022

A second half surge.@GARYWILLIAMS02 and @ExCoachKnoche break down the Terps' big run against Kansas that sent them to the national title game in the Film Room.

Tickets to the '02 reunion: https://t.co/V0ishIuZtX pic.twitter.com/5qwzPW5FQ8
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 23, 2022

2002 men's basketball national championship juan dixon gary williams lonny baxter

#1 MARYLAND 64, #5 INDIANA 52

All-American Juan Dixon lofted the basketball into the air and Johnny Holliday proclaimed, “The kids have done it!” as head coach Gary Williams Maryland etched its place in college basketball history by winning its first national championship with a 64-52 win over Indiana.
Dixon scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while fellow senior Lonny Baxter posted 15 points and 14 rebounds in the victory.
After defeating the highest possible seed on each step of its journey, including UConn and Kansas, the Terps were matched up with Cinderella 5-seed Indiana, which had defeated Duke earlier in the tournament.
The Terps were in control for most of the game. Indiana drew close midway through the second half, but Dixon nailed a 3-pointer to put Maryland ahead for good with 10 minutes left in the game.
Quotable: “I developed as a person, a basketball player. I feel like I’m dreaming right now because I’m part of a national championship team. I went out here and got better each year and led my team to a national championship. It’s a great feeling man. I’m speechless.” - Juan Dixon
Quotable: “It’s a great feeling, except that I haven’t felt anything because I’m numb.” - Gary Williams

"I thought we had all the pressure."@GARYWILLIAMS02 and @ExCoachKnoche break down the national title game against Indiana on episode three of the Film Room.

Tickets for the 2002 reunion: https://t.co/V0ishIuZtX pic.twitter.com/Jgiu08qmbc
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 24, 2022

ICONIC ??

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!! pic.twitter.com/bvfT8cqLE1
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) March 21, 2020

One Shining Moment.@GARYWILLIAMS02 gets emotional as he reflects on the triumph of leading his alma mater to the national championship with @ExCoachKnoche.

Episode 4 of the Film Room. pic.twitter.com/szNEtaLCxU
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) February 25, 2022