No. 13 Maryland Dominates No. 25 Memphis

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Posted 4:21PM on Saturday, November 27, 2004

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Maryland kept stealing the ball, running for layups and hitting shots. Led by John Gilchrist, the No. 13 Terrapins dominated No. 25 Memphis. Maryland won 84-61 Friday night over a less disciplined Tiger squad that committed 21 turnovers, missed 44 of 62 shots and never had a chance in the second half of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic. "We're going to have some fun this season," Gilchrist said after posting impressive numbers - 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals with only one turnover in 32 minutes. As a team, Memphis totaled five assists and three steals. "That's as bad as it gets," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "They were more intense, had more of a sense of urgency, beat us to loose balls, beat us to loose rebounds and scrambled like crazy." Nik Caner-Medley added 15 points for Maryland (3-0), which led 37-29 at halftime then scored the first seven points of the second half before taking a 28-point lead with 10 minutes to go. Most of the Terrapins' baskets in that stretch came on layups and fastbreaks - with many set up by steals - and they hit 49 percent of their shots for the game. "This time of year, I was very pleased with our intensity level," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I thought our defense was the key." Rodney Carney scored 23 points and Sean Banks had 12 for Memphis (4-2). Its other loss was to Syracuse, now ranked fourth. With the score tied for the fourth time at 16-16 with 11:22 left in the first half, the Terrapins took control by scoring the next nine points. That began a 15-2 run that gave them a 31-18 lead with 6:09 left in the half. Gilchrist scored six of the 15 points, including a dunk after his steal. "The points, rebounds and assists were great," Williams said, "but I thought his handling of the tempo of the game was really impressive." And when Gilchrist, a junior, wasn't handling the ball, sophomore D.J. Strawberry did a good job at it. He had just eight points but added three steals. Memphis freshman point guard Darius Washington was no match for them, finishing with nine points, one assist, two steals and six turnovers. "They've got veterans in the backcourt. This is a little bit of a wakeup for Darius," Calipari said. Gilchrist led the Terrapins in points, assists and steals last season when Maryland won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and he was named its MVP. The Tigers' 21 turnovers led to 32 points and they shot just 29 percent. Any comeback hopes ended early in the second half. Travis Garrison made a free throw and a layup off a steal by Caner-Medley, who followed with his own layup. Then McCray followed with another layup for a 44-29 lead. It was 53-39 before Maryland pulled away again with a 16-2 surge. Strawberry started it with a layup and McCray scored three of the last four baskets for the 69-41 advantage. The lead increased to 32 points at 79-47 before Memphis cut into it in the last six minutes as Williams began clearing his bench. That was one of the few good moments for Calipari, who coached at nearby Massachusetts from 1988 to 1996. "It was great seeing all my friends," he said. "Short of that, it's been a while since I've had that kind of thing done to one of my teams and I thanked Gary for putting his subs in with five minutes to go because it could have gotten ugly."