No. 12 Maryland whips UNC

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Posted 6:53AM on Thursday, January 23, 2003

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Maryland knew its upset of then-No. 1 Duke last Saturday wouldn't mean much if it couldn't follow it with a victory. Drew Nicholas scored 20 points and Steve Blake added 17 on Wednesday as the 12th-ranked Terrapins beat the Tar Heels 81-66, their first conference road win. ``We looked at this as our next big test,'' Nicholas said. ``Obviously our test on Saturday was to beat the No. 1 team in the country. Now we came in here with the focus of getting a road win. We were able to do that, and now we just have to keep pushing.'' Ryan Randle added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Terrapins (11-4, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won for the third straight time in the series. The Terrapins started five seniors against a North Carolina team that started three freshmen and two sophomores. The Terps' experience showed as they jumped to a big lead in the first half then answered every spurt with a momentum-killing score. The Tar Heels (11-6, 2-2), who fell to 4-3 without injured center Sean May, struggled to match up inside with the 6-foot-9, 255-pound Randle and 6-10, 270-pound Tahj Holden. The Terrapins dominated inside and played aggressive man-to-man defense throughout. They outscored the Tar Heels 42-20 in the paint, held a 45-35 rebound advantage and limited the hosts to 35 percent shooting. The Terrapins, which shot 51 percent, also got a boost from reserve guard John Gilchrist, who scored the first four points in a 14-2 second-half run that kept the Terrapins in control. ``I think the difference in our team this year is we don't know how we're going to be good each game,'' Maryland coach Gary Williams said. ``Somebody has to step up. Last year we were pretty consistent with the rotation so it's a little different this year. ``From a coach's standpoint, it's a lot of fun because it really challenges you and you try to get the right combination out there at the right time.'' Rashad McCants scored 26 points to lead North Carolina, while Jawad Williams added 18. Maryland used 16-2 and 11-0 runs in the first half to take a 37-20 lead. The Tar Heels rallied, scoring the last seven points of the half to pull to 39-31. Raymond Felton continued the run in the second half, hitting his first four shots after going 1-for-8 in the first half. His 3-pointer from the right wing pulled North Carolina within 41-39 with 17:04 left, ending a 19-4 run spanning halftime. But the Terrapins took advantage of their size inside, going on a 14-2 run. Maryland scored 12 points in the paint, starting with the two drives from Gilchrist. Randle added a jumper in the lane and a tip-in. The Terrapins also controlled the glass, taking a 10-2 edge during the spurt as the Tar Heels missed eight of nine shots. ``When you go on the road, you just have to play your game,'' Blake said. ``You can't let the crowd take you out of it, make you take quick shots and things like that. When the crowd gets really loud, teams tend to force things. We did a good job of not forcing things when the crowd got loud.'' Twice the Tar Heels closed within 10 points only to see Maryland answer with 3s on its next possessions. They pulled to within 61-53 on a dunk by Williams, but the Terrapins got an inside basket from Tahj Holden and a fastbreak layup from Randle to kill the rally. ``We dug ourselves a hole in the first half,'' said Felton, who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. ``It's hard to come back on a team like that. We did, and they made another run again.''