No. 2 Maryland whips Clemson

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Posted 7:03AM on Thursday, February 21, 2002

CLEMSON, S.C. - One down, three to go. Maryland moved a step closer to its first outright regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference title in 22 years with an 84-68 victory at Clemson on Wednesday night. All the Terrapins (22-3, 12-1 ACC) have to do is win out against Wake Forest, Florida State and Virginia. But championships were the last thing on the Terrapins minds walking out of Littlejohn Coliseum. ``We're just looking forward to Wake Forest now, that's all we need to look forward to,'' said Maryland point guard Steve Blake. ``If we win that game, then move on to the next game.'' Juan Dixon scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half as Maryland overcame a sluggish start for its ninth consecutive victory and ninth win in a row over Clemson (12-15, 3-11). The Terrapins hit only 11-of-35 shots in the opening period and missed 11 in a row at one point to trail the Tigers 27-20. But Dixon sparked Maryland after the break. ``Coach told us that we can't take for granted the Duke win. If we didn't win here, the Duke game wouldn't even matter,'' Dixon said. ``We took it upon ourselves to play aggressive in the second half and get the win.'' Maryland hit 13 of its first 15 shots in the second half and finished 19-of-30 for the period. The Terrapins played early like they were still caught between the emotional roller-coaster of beating Duke and seeing coach Gary Williams in pain because of the death of his father, William, this past Saturday. The team learned moments after the Duke victory about the death and struggled the past few days to come to grips. ``Coach Williams is like family, for him to see his dad die and see the emotion on his face,'' Dixon said. ``You feel like crying.'' Dixon went 4-of-4 from the field and had 10 points in a 27-12 run that turned a one-point deficit into a 63-49 lead with 9:52 left. Tahj Holden's tip-in gave Maryland the lead for good, 38-37. Dixon followed with a jumper to make it 42-39, then he added a driving layup and put the game away with consecutive 3-pointers to make it 61-49. Lonny Baxter closed the run with a jam off a pass from Dixon. Williams was absent from practice Tuesday for his father's burial. ``It was tough for them to concentrate. I wasn't at practice. That's not normal,'' Williams said. ``I think they missed me yelling at them.'' Clemson, which has lost 10 of 11, got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Dixon moved past the 2,000-point mark for his career. His 2,013 leaves him 136 from catching the late Len Bias' school record of 2,149. Dixon also became the NCAA's first player with more than 2,000 points, 300 steals and 200 3-pointers. ``That's quite an amazing accomplishment,'' Williams said. ``He plays hard and he's been that way for years.'' Chris Wilcox scored 14 points for Maryland and Byron Mouton added 13. Baxter had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Tony Stockman led Clemson with 19 points. ``Up to about the 13 minute mark I felt good,'' Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said. ``It was 52-49 and I felt like we had withstood a pretty good Maryland run. But they got two or three easy lobs behind us.'' Maryland did not look like it did against Duke in the first half at Littlejohn Coliseum. Dixon was 2-of-7 from the field, including 1-of-5 on 3-pointers. Steve Blake, who outplayed Duke's Jason Williams on Sunday, had no points and four turnovers. The Terrapins, who are third in league in field goal percentage, missed 11 straight shots during one stretch as Clemson led 35-31 at the half. Baxter said the team is focused on its current task, not its ultimate goals. ``We're not looking ahead, we're taking it game by game,'' Baxter said. ``We got this one. Now, we got to worry about Wake Forest.'' Blake's first assist of the game made him Maryland's career leader, breaking his tie with Keith Gatlin at 649. Blake, a junior, finished with nine assists and has 658.