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Terps Close Regular Season at Virginia
March 8, 2013
Maryland closes the 2012-13 regular season when it visits border-rival Virginia Sunday at 6 p.m. Following a 79-68 loss to North Carolina on Wednesday - just the third home loss of the season for Maryland - the Terps hope to even their conference record at 9-9 with a win over the Cavaliers.
Storyline
Continuing his strong play as of late, Dez Wells scored a team-high 18 points while adding six rebounds, a season-high three steals, two blocks and two assists in the loss to North Carolina. Over the past three games, the sophomore is averaging 18.7 points per game, including a 23-point effort on 11-of-12 shooting at Wake Forest on March 2. Wells now leads the team with 12.2 points per game and is shooting 53.8 percent from the field, a mark which ranks eighth in the ACC. Nick Faust has also increased his scoring recently, having averaged 13.3 points per game on 62.5 percent shooting (20 of 32) over the past four games. The sophomore has also knocked down 46.7 percent of his 3-pointers (7 of 15) during that stretch. In the first meeting against Virginia, the Cavaliers came away from College with an 80-69 win after shooting 54.2 percent, the best mark by a Maryland opponent this season. Wells (13) and Seth Allen (11) scored in double figures for the Terps, while Joe Harris had 22 to lead a group of four Cavaliers in double figures. Maryland-Virginia Series History Quick Hitters Youth Movement Seven of the 10 players in Maryland's regular rotation are underclassmen and 81 percent of Maryland's scoring (56.9 of 71.0 points per game) is coming from underclassmen. Maryland's top four scorers are underclassmen in sophomores Dez Wells (12.2 ppg), Alex Len (11.9 ppg) and Nick Faust (8.7 ppg) and freshman Seth Allen (7.4 ppg). Just twice in the past 30 years has a larger percentage of Maryland's scoring come from underclassmen. In 2003-04, 82 percent came from underclassmen, and in 1993-94, 97 percent did. Additionally, 114 of 150 starts (76%) this season have gone to underclassmen. That is the second-highest percentage in the past 30 years, behind only 1993-94 when every start went to underclassmen. The Terps have just one 1,000-point scorer on the roster this season in graduate student Logan Aronhalt. Aronhalt scored 1,100 points at Albany before transferring to Maryland prior to this season. Maryland's next top scorers are Wells (679), James Padgett (642), Faust (547) and Len (488). Hitting the Mark Maryland has assisted on 57 percent (450 of 793) of its field goals this season. The Terps have recorded double-digit assists in 27 of 30 games (exceptions are at Miami, at North Carolina and vs. North Carolina), and rank second in the ACC with 15.0 per game. Maryland is 17-3 when recording at least 14 assists. On average, Maryland has recorded 17.3 assists per game in wins, while in its losses it has averaged just 10.9. Hot Shooting Maryland ranks third in the ACC in field goal percentage at .468, behind just NC State (.495) and Duke (.476). That marks also ranks 29th nationally. The Terps have shot above 40 percent in 10 of the past 11 games. Maryland has shot better than 50 percent 11 times this season. Against Wake Forest (2/2), Maryland recorded its fifth-best field goal percentage in program history at .673. The four single-game marks better than that are: .833 (15-18) vs. South Carolina, 1/9/71; .739 (34-46) vs. Wake Forest, 1/28/86; .732 (30-41) vs. NC State, 12/20/80; and .704 (50-71) vs. Miami (OH), 12/28/79. Field Goal Percentage Defense Entering the week, Maryland led the ACC and ranked 10th nationally in field goal percentage defense at .377. The Terps have held 17 of the last 26 opponents under 40 percent shooting, including 10 of 17 ACC opponents. After North Carolina shot .455, Maryland's FG% defense dropped slightly to .380. Super Subs Maryland's bench has been an asset all season, as the Terps' non-starters have outscored the opponents non-starters in 26 of 30 games (exceptions are Kentucky, George Mason, at North Carolina and at Georgia Tech). Follow Maryland Athletics on Facebook & Twitter Media Information Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.
GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2013 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.
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