Feb. 1, 1997
No. 2 Wake Comes Back to Beat Terrapins, 74-70
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Tim Duncan scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half as
second-ranked Wake Forest avenged its only loss of the season
with a 74-69 victory over fifth-ranked Maryland in an Atlantic
Coast Conference battle.
Wake Forest (18-1, 8-1 ACC) rallied from a 43-31 halftime
deficit to earn its fifth straight win since a 54-51 loss to
Maryland on January 19th.
"We are pleased and fortunate to win this basketball game in
light of the way we played in the first half," said Wake Forest
coach Dave Odom. "We were less than desirable. Tony Rutland
set the stage in the second half by getting the ball to the
right player (Duncan)."
Keith Booth led Maryland (17-4, 6-3) with 22 points, but was
held to just six in the second half. The Terps were coming off
a 74-70 loss at Florida State on Wednesday.
Duncan's point total in the second half was one point shy of
Maryland's output. Wake Forest outscored the Terps, 43-26, in
the second half.
Wake Forest scored the first 10 points of the second half to
pull within 43-41. Duncan completed a three-point play, hit a
short jumper in the lane and scored on a reverse layup to
highlight the 10-0 run.
"The key was in the beginning of the second half," said Maryland
coach Gary Williams. "We didn't do much to stop Wake Forest. We
let Tim Duncan catch the ball too close to the basket. We
didn't pass the ball very well. We hit a wall to start the
second half. We were not as aggressive on defense."
Maryland responded with an 8-2 run to increase its lead to
51-43. But Wake Forest scored the next eight points, capped by
a three-pointer by Jerry Braswell with 13:25 left, to tie the
game at 51-51.
A three-pointer by Ricky Peral with 4:45 left gave Wake Forest
its first lead of the second half, 66-65. Maryland reclaimed
the lead when Rodney Elliott hit a baseline jumper, but the
Demon Deacons moved ahead for good on a 15-foot jumper by Tony
Rutland. A layup by Duncan increased Wake Forest's lead to
70-67 with 66 seconds remaining.
Obinna Ekezie hit a running hook to pull Maryland within 70-69
with 41.8 seconds left. Duncan then converted 1-of-2 free
throws with 36.3 seconds remaining.
Maryland had a chance to tie and Booth drove past Duncan, but
missed a shot as Peral helped out on defense with 10 seconds
left. Duncan was fouled and hit both free throws with 8.1
seconds left.
Duncan converted 11-of-15 free throws and grabbed 15 rebounds.
He was the only Wake Forest player in double figures.
Terrell Stokes had 12 points for Maryland.
A 12-2 run late in the first half built a 39-23 lead for
Maryland. Booth converted a free throw, hit a baseline jumper
and added a steal and a dunk in the run.
Cole Field House hosted a game between top-five teams for the
sixth time in history. Maryland is 2-4 in such games and has
not won since posting a 103-85 victory over North Carolina State
on January 16th, 1975.
WAKE FOREST (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Woods 29 3-7 2-4 2-12 2 3 8
Peral 28 2-5 4-6 2-4 0 4 9
Duncan 40 9-17 11-15 6-15 4 1 29
Braswell 29 3-9 0-0 6-9 2 1 7
Rutland 39 3-10 1-3 0-3 4 3 9
Allen 8 1-1 2-4 1-2 0 3 4
Goolsby 20 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 3 6
Amonett 7 0-1 2-2 1-1 0 2 2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-55 22-35 18-46 12 20 74
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Percentages: FG-.418, FT-.629. 3-Point Goals:
6-16, .375 (Peral 1-1, Duncan 0-1, Braswell 1-2,
Rutland 2-7, Goolsby 2-4, Amonett 0-1). Team
rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 6 (Duncan 3, Peral,
Woods, Allen). Turnovers: 19 (Duncan 5, Peral 4,
Allen 3, Rutland 3, Woods 2, Amonett, Braswell).
Steals: 5 (Duncan 2, Peral, Rutland, Woods).
MARYLAND (69)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Profit 23 3-9 2-3 2-4 2 5 9
Booth 34 8-23 6-9 4-9 3 4 22
Ekezie 15 3-4 3-4 2-2 0 5 9
Stokes 39 4-8 3-3 1-4 1 1 12
Jasikevicius 38 2-9 3-5 0-4 3 2 7
Elliott 25 2-8 2-3 3-7 1 3 6
Kovarik 15 1-3 0-0 2-3 1 5 2
Hite 5 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
Watkins 6 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 24-65 19-27 14-35 11 25 69
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.369, FT-.704. 3-Point Goals:
2-13, .154 (Profit 1-3, Booth 0-2, Stokes 1-3,
Jasikevicius 0-4, Elliott 0-1). Team rebounds: 1.
Blocked shots: 3 (Booth 2, Elliott). Turnovers: 9
(Booth 3, Stokes 3, Elliott 2, Hite). Steals: 5
(Booth 2, Hite, Kovarik, Stokes).
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Wake Forest 31 43 - 74
Maryland 43 26 - 69
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Technical fouls: Wake Forest 1 (Bench). A:
14,500. Officials: Mike Wood, Samuel Croft,
Curtis Shaw.
