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Terps Play First Road Game of Year at Miami
Jan. 13, 2009
MIAMI, Fla. - Maryland plays its first game of the 2008-09 season at the home arena of its opponent on Wednesday night in a matchup with Miami. The game is the first in a two-game Florida swing, with the Terrapins staying south for a Saturday afternooon matchup at Florida State at noon. * The Terrapins won their Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Wednesday night, recovering from a 10-point deficit to beat Georgia Tech, 68-61, at Comcast Center. The game was the last in a seven-game, month-long homestand for the Terps. * Maryland is 8-1 in its last 9 games, and is only one point away from a 9-game winning streak. The lone loss in that stretch is a 66-65 loss to Morgan State on a night when the Terrapins went 1-for-14 from 3-point range and committed a season-high 21 turnovers. The previous losses this season by the Terps came at the Old Spice Classic to Gonzaga, ranked 9th in the nation at the time of the game, and to Georgetown, currently ranked 12th. Maryland owns victories over highly-regarded Michigan State, 7th in this weeks AP poll, and Michigan, which is 24th in the coaches poll. * Junior guard Greivis Vasquez moved into 1st place in NCAA Division I this week in free-throw percentage. Vasquez, who has hit his last 35 free throws, is hitting .940 from the line. His last miss at the stripe came late in the game on 12/3 against Michigan... Maryland is 3rd in the nation in team free-throw percentage, coming into tonight's game at .791. * Between playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (currently ranked 1st as a league in the Sagarin Computer Ratings) and facing three ranked teams in the 2008 Old Spice Classic, the Maryland men's basketball schedule is formidable:
* Maryland entered the week 3rd in the nation in free-throw percentage, hitting .791 as a team... The Terrapins hold a comfortable lead in the ACC in that category, with Duke in second place at .738... Of the seven Terps who have made at least 10 foul shots this year, six of those are hitting 74 percent or better at the line this season... Maryland has out-scored opponents at the line in 13 of 15 games this season (12-1 in those games)... Assistant Coach Rob Ehsan's alma mater, UC Davis, led the nation with an .817 percentage as of games through last Sunday... Maryland's school-record for team FT percentage for a season is .758, set in 1976. * Miami has improved its record to 12-3 and is on a 5-game winning streak... The Hurricanes are now 1-1 in the league after getting a 77-71 victory at Boston College on Saturday. Miami put five players in double figures, led by Dwayne Collins and Brian Asbury with 13 points each... * Jack McClinton is Miami's leading scorer, averaging 16.9 points per game.... He has 40 3-point field goals in 15 games and also leads with 46 assists... Collins is the other Hurricane averaging in double figures, scoring at a 12.1 ppg clip and is shooting .611 from the floor... He is also Miami's leading rebounder, averaging 7.8 boards per game... * Miami lost at home to Clemson on Dec. 21 in its conference opener, but since has won at St. John's, at home over North Florida, North Carolina Central and Florida Atlantic before winning at Boston College on Saturday. Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams - January 13 Quotes On his team playing on the road at Miami on Wednesday: On the resiliency his team demonstrated during its win over Georgia Tech: On guard Eric Hayes: On the personality differences between guards Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez: On how he characterizes his team's attitude after playing 15 games: On guard Sean Mosley: On what concerns him about playing the Hurricanes: |
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