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| Terps Take BB&T
Crown |
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| By: Chad Capellman |
| Date: December 4, 2001 |
WASHINGTON - Lonny Baxter had bounced around quite a
bit prior to his career in College Park, with a high school
career spent at four different schools. And even though his
entire prep career wasn't spent in the District of Columbia,
he still considers the nation's capital his home.
So
it was a special moment when the senior center hoisted the MVP
trophy tonight at MCI Center after leading Maryland to a 77-65
victory over Connecticut for the Terps' second consecutive
BB&T Classic title.
Baxter earned the hardware
after finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He made
8-of-10 field goal attempts, and perhaps most re-assuring for
Maryland fans, converted 8-of-10 free throw attempts.
"It's my senior year, I'm from D.C. I really wanted
this MVP trophy tonight," Baxter said.
The win was the
sixth straight for Maryland, which was outrebounded 48-38 by
Connecticut but was benefited by scoring 28 points on 21 Husky
turnovers. Connecticut forward Caron Butler was a nuisance for
the Terps all night, leading the Huskies with 20 points.
"Tonight I thought Lonny was really in control the
whole time," Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. "He really did
a good job of facing the basket a couple times. With a couple
fakes he got wide open where he could really go hard to the
rim. He was just a warrior out there for us the whole night.
"In the second half against Princeton and tonight
against Connecticut, he was exceptional. Connecticut has some
good inside players. That wasn't done against average
players."
Baxter, who notched his third double-double
of the season and the 26th of his career, looked relieved
after the game.
"I just had to pick it up this
tournament. I didn't really play particularly well even though
we won against Illinois. I just tried to step my game up and
do what I do best."
What the Terps (6-1) do best is
match up against teams that like to run up and down the court,
as Connecticut likes to do. The style a play was a welcome
change of pace for a Terrapin team that was frequently
frustrated during its semifinal victory over a disciplined,
methodical Princeton team.
"It's been a long weekend
for us," said Drew Nicholas, who finished tonight's victory
over Connecticut with seven points, two assists, a block and a
steal in 18 minutes.
The Terps looked early on like
they were going to run the young Huskies (3-1) out the
building, as they sprinted to a 21-7 lead. After giving up a
13-0 run, however, the Terps had to basically start over, and
entered halftime with just a 36-34 lead.
"We
definitely felt we should have been up more at halftime,"
Nicholas said. "But then we sat back and said, hey, we're
still up two. Let's just go out and concentrate on the things
we did well in the first half, especially in the first five
minutes."
The Terps did return to the version that
jumped to the early lead and used a 16-4 run at the beginning
of the second half to right their ship.
Juan Dixon
finished with 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting, but had another
tournament record-tying outing with six steals to give him 12
in two games at MCI Center. He left the game with 2:13
remaining with a bloody nose after blocking Johnnie Selvie's
shot and nearly stealing the loose ball before falling out of
bounds. He showed no ill-effects from the play in the locker
room after the game, and admitted that he has some work to do
on his shot in the next few practices.
"One of these
days those shots are going to go. I struggled this tournament,
but I'm going to go home and get in the gym get some extra
shots hopefully next game I can shoot a better percentage. But
you're not going to have a good shooting game every day. I'm
sure I'll come back strong next week.
Maryland showed
nice balance at the power forward position, as Tahj Holden and
Chris Wilcox combined for 20 points and 11 rebounds. At point
guard, Steve Blake improved from the Princeton game, with nine
assists to just two turnovers and eight points.
The
team also showed improvement at the free-throw line, with its
best outing of the young season at 74 percent including
12-of-15 in the second half.
The Terps have already
played a healthy amount of basketball, and it's only the first
week of December. But for anyone who complains that the
Terps have not consistently played like a team that returns
the core of last season's Final Four team, Mouton has an
answer.
You're right.
"We should be. We've got
eight guys coming back from last year. We're older, stronger
and quicker and I feel we should be at that level. A great
team always strives to be the best. We can't say 'well at
tournament time, we're going to be a Final Four team.' At the
beginning of the season, we've got to be a Final Four team.
That's what the goal has got to be."
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