Dec. 6, 2005
Cullowhee, N.C. -
Western Carolina will travel to College Park to face the 17th-ranked Maryland Terrapins. Tipoff is set for 8:00 pm on Wednesday (Dec. 7). The game will feature two of the winningest active coaches in the NCAA as Maryland's Gary Williams has 541 career wins, ranking 11th, and Western's Larry Hunter has 514 career wins, ranking 13th.
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THE SERIES
This marks the second meeting between Western Carolina and Maryland. The Catamounts and Terrapins were opening their 1998-99 campaign and the home team cruised to a 113-46 victory in College Park. The 67-point margin of victory was Maryland's most one-sided victory in school history.
In that only previous meeting between the two schools, the sixth-ranked Terps raced out to an 8-0 lead with Western battling back to trim its deficit to 21-13. However, Maryland went on an 11-0 run to take a 55-19 lead at halftime. The Terps shot 66.7 percent from the field, while holding the Catamounts to just 25 percent shooting.
Five Terps scored in double figures, including Obinna Ekezie (19), Steve Francis (17), Terrence Morris (16), Laron Proffit (14), Juan Dixon (14) and Mike Mardesich (12). Dixon additionally helped Maryland out-rebound Western, 52-27, by getting a game-high nine. Starting guard Terrell Stokes only scored two points, making his only shot attempt, but dished out a school-record 15 assists with Francis, who was making his debut with Maryland, adding nine assists.
Western Carolina was led by Dondrell Whitmore and Michael Green, each of whom scored 10 points, while Todd Seibert came off the bench to pull down nine rebounds. Future Catamount stars Casey Rogers and Cory Largent struggled in their collegiate debut. Rogers, who went on to be named SoCon Freshman of the Year and rank second on the WCU lists for assists and 3-pointers made, was 0-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range. Largent, who would go one to earn All-SoCon honors and score 1,360 career points, was just 1-for-6, including 1-for-4 from beyond the arc.
DID YOU KNOW?
Maryland was an original member of the Southern Conference, which was founded in 1921 and was the nation's first "super conference" with other founding members Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Washington & Lee. Maryland remained the SoCon in 1932 despite the newly-formed Southeastern Conference, but did leave in 1953 when the league split and the Atlantic Coast Conference was formed. Western Carolina joined the SoCon in 1976.
WCU vs THE ACC
Western Carolina owns a 2-36 record versus current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, including an 0-1 record versus Maryland and a 54-40 setback at Virginia Tech earlier this season. The Catamounts, who led the Hokies by three at the break, are now 0-3 all-time versus Virginia Tech. The following is how Western has fared versus other current ACC members: Clemson (0-8), Duke (0-3), Florida State (1-2), Georgia Tech (1-6), North Carolina (0-1) and North Carolina State (0-12). The Cats have never faced Boston College, Miami, Virginia or Wake Forest.
Western's first win over the ACC was an 88-77 victory in Atlanta over Georgia Tech on Nov. 28, 1980. The game holds a special place in the memories of the Catamount faithful for two reasons. First, Western opened the 1990-81 season with a road victory versus an ACC school. Western's Ronnie Carr led all scorers with 21 points with Kenny Trimier getting 10 rebounds. The Yellow Jackets scored the first points of the game, but Western rallied to tie the score, then take a lead it would not relinquish. Second, on the following night (Nov. 29, 1980), Western returned to Cullowhee to host Middle Tennessee State for a historic matchup. In the Cats' win over MTSU, Western's Ronnie Carr made THE FIRST 3-pointer in NCAA history and the Cats would defeat the Blue Raiders, 77-70. (The ACC did not use the 3-point shot until 1986 when all of the NCAA incorporated the shot.)
Western's second win over an ACC team came 21 seasons later on Dec. 8, 2001 with a 79-69 victory at Florida State. Then Catamount freshman and current Sacramento King guard Kevin Martin scored eight of his game-high 19 points inside the final 4:19 to lead Western to a 26-9 run to end the game and the 79-69 victory.
Including an 0-5 mark this season, SoCon teams are just 8-88 versus ACC teams since the 1996-97 season.
Some other big wins for Western of late include a 66-64 victory at Kansas State on Dec. 19, 2001 and a 62-59 overtime decision at Arkansas on Dec. 23, 2003, thanks to 33 points from Martin.
TOUGH START
For the second consecutive season, Western Carolina has front-loaded its schedule. Last year, Western played five games in seven days to start the season (three at the BCA Classic versus Marquette, Penn State and Jacksonville State Sunday-Tuesday then road games at Alabama Friday and at South Carolina Sunday). In all, Western played 11 games in 25 days.
This year has been much the same. Western opened the season with three games at the NABC Classic at Virginia Tech Nov. 10-13. The Cats returned home to host South Carolina on Nov. 18 only to travel to Des Moines, Iowa to face Northern Iowa Nov. 20. Over the next 11 days (Nov. 22-Dec. 3), the Cats played five games. The Maryland game will be WCU's 11th game this season, encompassing 27 days.
