North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Men Play at Maryland
2/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
Flashback to January 21, 2001: Nationally ranked Maryland shoots 52.9 percent from the field and dominates NC State at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in an impressive 75-61 victory over the Wolfpack. Terence Morris leads the Terps by scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Center Lonnie Baxter adds 18 as Maryland looks the part of a legitimate national title contender.
But then, just six days later, Maryland's entire season would be changed by a single and unforgettable 60-second collapse. With one minute to play, the Terps led Duke by 10 points. For 39 minutes, Maryland had picked up where it left off at NC State, playing at a level few teams are able to attain.
Then came a flurry of turnovers and missed free throws by the Terps, and a rapid-fire succession of three-pointers by the Blue Devils. Before you could say Lefty Driesell, Duke had tied the game. The Blue Devils then finished off one of the most incredible comebacks in ACC history by winning in overtime.
It was a devastating blow from which Maryland would not recover for three full weeks. Following their Duke debacle, the Terps proceeded to lose five of six games. And the boo birds cascaded down from the Cole Field House stands following an unlikely 74-71 loss to Florida State last week.
But now, as it prepares for a second meeting with NC State, Maryland's slide is apparently over. In a one-sided 73-57 victory at Wake Forest on Saturday, the Terrapins (16-9, 7-6) got back to being the team that whipped the Wolfpack and thoroughly outplayed Duke for 39 minutes.
"It couldn't get any worse," Maryland guard Juan Dixon told the Washington Post. "We had lost five of our last six and we'd had high expectations. We knew this was the game to do it. If we didn't, our season was probably done. Guys were fired up."
Meanwhile, the Pack (12-12, 4-8) will limp into Tuesday night's match up in College Park on the heels of a 69-54 defeat at Georgia Tech on Saturday. And while Maryland is fighting to secure itself an NCAA Tournament berth, NC State is playing for pride. The Pack's only hopes of making the big dance now hinge on winning next month's ACC Tournament in Atlanta.
NC State's last trip to Cole Field House was both memorable and tragic. That of course was the infamous game in which Damon Thornton was called for a technical foul after protesting a charging call with just over two minutes remaining. At the time, the Wolfpack led by five. But after the charge and technical, Maryland would score the game's final 10 points to win 78-73.
The bitter defeat ignited a seven game losing streak that would knock NC State out of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack holds a 67-60 advantage in the all-time series with Maryland, but the Terrapins have prevailed in 17 of the last 20 meetings. NC State's hasn't posted a win in Cole since 1989.
