Maryland opens play in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament when it takes on Niagara in Comcast Center Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Terrapins are returning to postseason play for the first time since 2010, when they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tickets for the first round are available for $25 to the general public. Students can reserve a free ticket through their online account at www.tickets.umd.edu. Guest tickets will be available for $4. Click here to purchase tickets.

Storyline

• The Terps are appearing in the NIT for the eighth time in school history and hold an 11-6 record in the tournament. Maryland owns one NIT title, in 1972, when they defeated Niagara in the championship game 100-69. That is the only time the two schools have met.

• The NIT appearance marks the ninth time in the last 11 years that head coach Mark Turgeon has led his team to the postseason. Turgeon led Wichita State to the NIT in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2006. He then led Texas A&M to the NCAA second round all four of his years in College Station (2008-11).

• Dez Wells led Maryland to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament last weekend, averaging 22.0 points per game en route to first team All-Tournament honors. The sophomore had a career-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the 83-74 quarterfinal win over No. 2 Duke, making all 10 of his free throw attempts while adding six rebounds and three assists. Over the past seven games, Wells is averaging 19.1 points per game on 55.6 percent shooting.

• Alex Len and Nick Faust also had solid tournaments, with Len averaging 13.7 points per game and Faust averaging 12.3 points per game. Len had his second career 20-point game in the semifinal against North Carolina when he finished with 20 on 5-of-7 shooting and 10-of-12 free throws. Faust has come on strong towards the end of the season, having averaged 13.1 points per game over the last eight games.

Quick Hitters
• Mark Turgeon's current winning percentage of .591 (39-27) is the second-best mark by a Maryland coach in his first two seasons. Bud Millikan had a .592 winning percentage and Gary Williams had a .574 mark.

• Dez Wells scored 30 points against Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals, the most points by a Terp this season. He is the first Terp to score 30 in a game since Terrell Stoglin had 33 at Miami in two overtimes on 2/1/2012.

• Maryland has reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2009-10, when it went 24-9 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Mark Turgeon's teams have now won at least 20 games in five of the last six seasons and eight of the last 10. The exceptions are last season, Turgeon's first at Maryland, and 2006-07, his last at Wichita State. The Terps are one of six ACC teams to reach the 20-win mark; Miami, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and NC State also have at least 20 wins.

• The Terps had their best game this season at the free-throw line against Duke (3/15) by connecting on 23-of-25 (92%), led by Dez Wells's 10-for-10 effort and Pe'Shon Howard's 7-for-8.

• Logan Aronhalt connected on seven 3-pointers at Boston College on 2/19. That's the most by a Terp since Mike Jones hit a Comcast Center record nine on Dec. 28, 2006, vs. Missouri-Kansas City.

• Maryland did not beat a ranked opponent in either of the last two seasons. The Terps have three wins over a ranked team this year: No. 14/15 NC State, No. 2/1 Duke (Feb. 16), and No. 2/2 Duke (March 15).

• The Terps are 21-2 this season when they have the lead with 5:00 left in the game, and 1-0 when tied with 5:00 left. The losses came at Florida State (1/30) and at Virgina in overtime (3/10).

• The 13-game winning streak Maryland went on earlier this season is tied for the second longest in school history, trailing just the 14-game streak the Terps went on in 1931-32. Maryland also went on a 13-game win streak in 2001-02, the year they went on to win the national title.

• Logan Aronhalt is averaging one 3-point field goal made for every 8.4 minutes on the floor. By comparison, the ACC leader in 3PT FGs made, Scott Wood of NC State, makes one 3-pointer every 12.1 minutes on the floor.

• At least eight players have scored in 30 of Maryland's 34 games this year. The exceptions are vs. George Mason, at Miami, at North Carolina and vs. North Carolina, when just seven players scored.

• The Terps are 16-3 when making as many or more free throws than the opponent, and 6-9 when making fewer free throws.

• When Seth Allen, Jake Layman and Shaquille Cleare drew starts against UMES, it marked the first time Maryland started three true freshmen since Dec. 28, 1993, when Keith Booth, Matt Kovarik and Joe Smith did vs. Hofstra. The Terps have started three freshmen in a game four times this season.

• Maryland leads the ACC and ranks 13th nationally in field goal percentage defense at .384. The Terps have held 18 of the last 30 opponents under 40 percent shooting, including 11 of 18 ACC (regular season) opponents.

• Maryland's bench has been an asset all season, as the Terps' non-starters have outscored the opponents non-starters in 28 of 34 games.

• On the year, Maryland's bench has a 847-422 (24.9 to 12.4 per game) advantage over the opponent.

• All 10 players in Maryland's regular rotation are averaging double-figure minutes, and no player is averaging more than 29 minutes per game (Dez Wells is first at 28.4).

• Logan Aronhalt has been a consistent contributor as a long-range specialist. He is 14 3-point field goals made shy of qualifying for the ACC lead, but his .432 mark from beyond the arc would rank third in the league. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 27 of 34 games this season. Of his 66 field goals made this season, 54 are 3-pointers.

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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.