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Maryland hopes
to continue its dominance of Florida State as the teams open up Atlantic Coast
Conference play in Tallahassee, Fla. on Sunday.
The 24th-ranked Terrapins (7-2) own a 22-6 advantage over Florida State (10-1)
in the all-time series, including five straight wins and 15 of 16.
Maryland enters the game riding a three-game winning streak, including an 85-58 win over UNC-Greensboro on Tuesday. Nik Caner-Medley scored 19 points to lead four players in double figures as Maryland limited the Spartans to 36 percent shooting.
Coming off a nine-day layoff for exams, Maryland coach Gary Williams was afraid his team would come out flat for its final tuneup before conference play.
``This is the game
coming out of exams that coaches worry about the most. I was really proud of
our guys overall, especially their defensive effort,'' Williams said. ``We weren't
playing well offensively for a while, which allowed UNC-Greensboro to hang around.
When we did finally get going offensively, our defense was good enough to create
a separation.''
Freshman Ekene Ibekwe had a career-high 13 points for Maryland, which improved
to 100-2 at home against non-conference opponents under Williams. Chris McCray
added 11 points and Travis Garrison had 10 for the Terrapins, who are playing
their earliest ACC opener since facing Florida State on Dec. 28, 1998.
Maryland has won 30-of-36 ACC regular-season games over the last three seasons, including a second-place 11-5 mark last season and a 15-1 ACC regular-season championship-winning campaign in 2001-02.
Florida State won its first 10 games before falling at No. 16 Pittsburgh, 63-56, last Monday.
Senior Tim Pickett, who leads the Seminoles in scoring at 14.4 points per game, scored 14 points, while senior Nate Johnson finished with 12. With the loss, Florida State failed to match a 33-year-old school record of 11 consecutive victories set during the Dave Cowens era.