Tigers Fall to No. 2 Maryland, 84-68

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CLEMSON - Maryland's hopes of finishing as the top seed in the Atlantic Coast

Conference survived another stiff test Wednesday.

The Terrapins, ranked No. 2 in both polls, shook off a sluggish first half to

beat Clemson, 84-68, Wednesday night in Littlejohn Coliseum. Senior guard

Juan Dixon scored 14 of his 21 points over the final 20 minutes, helping

Maryland (22-3, 12-1) overcome a four-point halftime deficit and maintain its

hold on first place in the ACC.

"I thought we battled them hard on the glass, and I thought we battled them with the ball," said Clemson head coach Larry Shyatt. "We had to make

a certain amount of make shots. You have to score 80 to 90 points to beat Maryland, and we just couldn't do that."

Whatever Gary Williams said to the Terps at halftime obviously hit home.

Maryland opened the second half with a quick 9-2 run - capped by a Chris

Wilcox baseline dunk - to jump ahead 40-37.

The Terrapins still led by three - 52-49 - until the 11:52 mark of the half,

when Drew Nicholas and Juan Dixon opened up from long distance. Nicholas'

3-pointer from the top of the key pushed the lead to 55-49, and Dixon

followed with back-to-back treys to make it 61-49.

Lonnie Baxter added a dunk for an 11-0 run, before Jamar McKnight finally

stopped Clemson's drought with an 18-footer from the top of the key.

The Tigers (12-15, 3-11) never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Tony Stockman led Clemson with 19 points.

Wilcox added 14 for the Terps, with Byron Mouton scoring 13 and Nicholas 10.

Clemson led 35-31 at the half thanks to an 22-8 run that turned a 17-11

deficit into a 33-25 lead with 3:27 left in the half. McKnight and Scott each

scored six points during the run. Both players finished with eight points in

the half.

The Tigers, who have made a habit of giving up early 3-pointers this season,

held Maryland to 2-for-11 shooting from behind the arc. Clemson also

struggled, hitting just 2-of-10 on 3-point attempts.

BOX SCORE

(2) Maryland (22-3; ACC: 12-1)	 31 	 53 	84


Clemson (12-15; ACC: 3-11)	 35 	 33 	68


Maryland


PLAYER   	MIN	FGM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	PF	PTS


B. Mouton       30	6-12	0-0	3	6	1	1	13


C. Wilcox       22	6-9	2-4	3	4	1	4	14


L. Baxter       34	3-10	4-8	2	12	0	1	10


J. Dixon        38	7-15	4-4	2	7	6	3	21


S. Blake        31	1-6	4-4	2	4	9	3	7


A. Collins      1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0


D. Nicholas     20	4-9	2-2	0	2	2	0	12


M. Grinnon      1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0


R. Randle       11	2-3	1-2	2	5	1	1	5


T. Holden       12	1-1	0-0	1	2	2	2	2


Totals     	200	30-65	17-24	15	42	22	15	84


                   	.462	.780	 


TEAM REBS: 3


TURNOVERS: 9 (Blake 5, Baxter 2, Dixon, Wilcox)


BLOCKED SHOTS: 7 (Wilcox 3, Baxter 3, Blake)


STEALS: 7 (Randle 2, Baxter, Blake, Grinnon, Nicholas, Wilcox)


3-PT FGS: 7-18, .389 (Mouton 1-2, Dixon 3-8, Blake 1-3, Nicholas 2-5)


Clemson


PLAYER    	MIN	FGM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	PF	PTS


J. McKnight     27	5-10	0-0	2	3	1	0	10


C. Hobbs        22	4-10	1-2	1	3	0	5	9


R. Henderson    27	4-10	1-2	5	11	2	4	9


T. Stockman     31	7-17	0-0	1	2	2	1	19


E. Scott        36	3-7	5-7	1	8	5	1	11


T. Nagys        13	0-4	0-2	2	4	1	2	0


S. Ford         18	3-5	0-0	4	5	0	4	6


O. Babalola     5	0-2	0-0	0	0	2	1	0


C. Christie     17	1-6	2-2	0	3	1	0	4


D. Clifton      4	0-1	0-0	1	1	0	0	0


Totals         	200	27-72	9-15	17	40	14	18	68


                 	.375	.600	 


TEAM REBS: 2


TURNOVERS: 10 (Scott 4, Stockman 2, Christie, Ford, Mcknight, Nagys)


BLOCKED SHOTS: 1 (Nagys)


STEALS: 7 (Mcknight 2, Scott 2, Stockman 2, Ford)


3-PT FGS: 5-17, .294 (Mcknight 0-3, Stockman 5-8, Scott 0-2, Babalola 0-2, Christie 0-2)


Technicals: None


Attendance: 8,500

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