University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels To Host Maryland On Sunday
February 24, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2006
CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina (18-6, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) will hope to win for the eighth time in its last nine games when it hosts Maryland (16-10, 6-7 ACC) on Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill. The game will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net.
The Tar Heels are coming off their fifth consecutive ACC road win, a 95-71 victory at No. 15/14 NC State on Wednesday. UNC is ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
Carolina has won six of its first seven ACC road games this season with a date at Duke remaining on March 4. The six road wins by this season's team matches the number of conference road games won by last year's NCAA championship squad (6-2).
UNC has won at Virginia Tech, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Wake Forest and NC State and lost at Virginia in 2005-06.
After losing three of four games in mid-January, the Tar Heels have won seven of their last eight contests. Their win over NC State, combined with the Boston College (8-5) loss at Virginia on Tuesday night, vaulted Carolina into third place in the ACC standings, a half-game behind the second-place Wolfpack (10-4). NC State will host BC on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh.
Maryland dropped a 71-60 decision at Florida State on Wednesday. The Terrapins have lost six of the their last eight games, including a 77-62 Carolina victory in College Park on Feb. 2.
After Sunday's game, Carolina will host Virginia on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. in the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, marking the final home games of UNC seniors David Noel, Byron Sanders, Will Robinson and Thomas Wilkins. The Tar Heels will then close out the 2005-06 regular season on Saturday night March 4 at Duke.
THE SERIES VS. MARYLAND
EARLIER THIS SEASON AT MARYLAND -- CAROLINA 77, MARYLAND 62
COLLEGE PARK, MD. -- Carolina got 19 points and 12 rebounds from David Noel and 20 points and nine boards from Reyshawn Terry as it won at No. --/23 Maryland, 77-62, on Feb. 2, 2006. UNC dominated the Terrapins on the backboards, holding a 52-34 rebounding edge overall and grabbing a season-high 38 defensive boards.
The Tar Heels held the Terrapins, who entered the game as the ACC's top scoring team, to just 22 second-half points and 26.5 percent shooting after halftime. Maryland's 62 total points were 20 points off its average entering the game. Terry scored 14 of his 20 points after halftime and Tyler Hansbrough scored 11 of his 15 after intermission.
Noel had 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half, going 5 for 8 from the field before the break. Noel had totaled 16 points and 14 field goal attempts in his three previous games combined entering the game at Maryland.
Terry posted his second career 20-point game and his first since scoring a career-high 25 in the Dec. 3, 2005, win at Kentucky.
Both teams started slowly, with Maryland hitting just 2 of its first 11 shots and UNC 3 of its first 10. Noel scored 11 of the Tar Heels' first 17 points. Hansbrough, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, took his first field goal attempt at the 5:55 mark of the first half and was held to one free throw attempt in the game, a season-low.
Carolina won despite committing 24 turnovers, 15 of which came in the first half. The 24 Tar Heel miscues were their second-most this season, trailing only the 25 they committed at Virginia Tech on Jan. 10 and at USC on Dec. 21.
Carolina broke Maryland's 14-game home winning streak that dated to UNC's win in the Comcast Center last February. UNC has won two in a row at Maryland for the first time since the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.
LAST SEASON IN CHAPEL HILL -- CAROLINA 109, MARYLAND 75
CHAPEL HILL -- Rashad McCants (19 points) led seven Tar Heel scorers in double figures as No. 3/4 Carolina defeated No. 22/21 Maryland, 109-75, on Jan. 8, 2005, in the Smith Center.
The 34-point margin of victory was Carolina's largest over Maryland since a 36-point victory (102-66) over the Terps on March 12, 1993 in the ACC Tournament. The win also marked UNC's largest over a ranked opponent since a 103-55 victory over No. 20 Florida State on Jan. 24, 1998.
The 109 points are the most Carolina has ever scored against Maryland and the most the Terps have allowed since a 114-91 loss to NC State on Feb. 27, 1991. Carolina reached the 100-point plateau for the third straight game for the first time since the start of the 1992-93 national championship season.
Carolina had seven players in double figures for the first time since a 121-110 win over Kentucky on Dec. 27, 1989. McCants (19), Sean May (14), Jawad Williams (13), Raymond Felton (12), Marvin Williams (12), Reyshawn Terry (11) and Jackie Manuel (10) each reached double digits.
After Maryland took a 29-24 lead with 9:07 left in the opening frame, the Tar Heels closed the first half on a 23-5 run to carry a 47-34 lead into intermission. Felton led UNC at the break with 12 points of 5 of 7 shooting.
Maryland shot just 2 of 22 from three-point range in the game. Carolina out-rebounded the Terrapins, 49-28. The Tar Heels shot better than 55 percent from the field in both halves, shooting 56.5 percent for the game to Maryland's 38.0 percent.
