Clemson vs. Maryland Series
•Maryland holds an 85-45 lead in the
series with Clemson. But, Clemson has won
the last four meetings. Three of the wins took
place in 2004-05 when Clemson won at
Clemson by an 88-73 score, won at Maryland
97-93 and in the ACC Tournament by an 84-72
score. Clemson won the lone contest between
the two teams a year ago at Clemson, 89-77.
•Clemson holds a 33-25 lead in
games played in Clemson, including a 20-18
lead in games played at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers have won nine games in history in
College Park, six of them in Cole Field house.
The Terps have dominated the series in College
Park, winning 49 of the 58 games. Clemson
ended a seven-game losing streak in College
Park in 2004-05 under Oliver Purnell with a 97-
93 victory. The two teams did not play in
College Park last year, but they will place twice
in 2006-07.
•Clemson had lost 13 straight to
Maryland prior to 2004-05. The 13-game streak
dated to the 1997-98 season in an overtime win
at Clemson. Nine of those 13 losses were by
double digits, so Maryland had dominated the
series from 1998-99 through 2003-04.
Clemson swept Maryland in 1996-97, a season
in which the Tigers finished eighth in the final
ESPN/USA Today Coach’s poll, the highest final
ranking in Clemson history. Both wins were
over top 20 Maryland teams, the only time in
history Clemson has defeated the same top 20
team twice in the same year. Clemson then
lost to Maryland by 15 points in the ACC
Tournament that year, denying Clemson of a
three-game sweep of the Terps.
•The last time Clemson won a game
over a ranked team on the road the victory took
place at Maryland (1996-97), when the Terps
were ranked 11th in the nation. Clemson has lost
33 straight games against ranked teams on the
road since that win at Maryland in 1996-97.
Greg Buckner scored 16 points and Terrell
McIntyre added 13 to lead Clemson to its 67-63
victory at the 11th ranked Terps.
•Clemson made 27-53 shots from the
field for 51 percent, while Maryland was at 48
percent, but made just 2-14 from three-point
range. Keith Booth, now an assistant coach at
Maryland, led the Terps with 16 points, while
Laron Profit had 14 points and seven steals.
•Six years ago the two teams met at
Clemson and it was a high scoring affair.
Maryland held a 59-56 lead at halftime before winning, 104-92. Clemson made 13 threepoint
goals in that game, led by Will Solomon
who made seven threes and scored 32 points.
•Clemson’s six wins in Cole Field
house took place in 1961-62 (75-68), 1965-66
(81-69), 1975-76 (82-77), 1986-87 (80-79),
1992-93 (81-73) and 1996-97 (76-70).
Clemson also won in College Park in 1939-40
(48-30) and 1949-50 (60-55). Clemson won at
the Comcast Center for the first time in 2004-
05, 97-93 on Feb.22.
Clemson Offense Strong vs. Maryland in
Recent meetings
Clemson has won four consecutive
games against Maryland, a first for the Clemson
program since the 1949-51 era. While Clemson
is known for its defense under Oliver Purnell, it
has been Clemson’s offensive execution that
has been the key for the Tigers in the last four
games against the Terps.
Over the last four games, Clemson
has averaged 89.5 points per game against
Maryland and shot 49 percent from the field,
including 45.8 percent on three-point shots.
Clemson is 38-83 against Maryland from threepoint
range over the last four games, including
a 12-28 performance last year, and 11-25 three point
shooting against the Terps in the 2005
ACC Tournament at the MCI Center.
Maryland has shot 40.4 percent from
the field, including 33.8 percent from behind the
arc in the four games. Clemson has also forced
15 more turnovers (81 to 66) and has 14 more
blocked shots (30-16) and 14 more steals (42-
28). Clemson’s bench has also been a big
factor. In the four games, Clemson has scored
147 points off the bench, compared to 72 for the
Terps. That is a 37-18 advantage on average
over the four-game period.
Purnell 5-2 vs. Maryland as Head Coach
This will be Oliver Purnell’s eighth game as a head coach
against Maryland and Gary Williams. The Tiger mentor has a 5-2 record
against the Terps. In addition to the three Clemson victories over
Maryland in 2004-05 and the win last year, Purnell led Dayton to a 77-
71 victory over Maryland in the third-place game of the 2000 Maui
Invitational.
That was a big victory for the Flyers and Purnell, as that
Maryland team went on to the Final Four in March. Maryland was ranked
sixth in the nation entering that game in Hawaii. Clemson beat a #22
Maryland team at Clemson in 2004-05. Thus, two of Purnell’s five wins
over Maryland have been against ranked Terps teams. The Terps were
26th in AP poll points prior the game in College Park in 2004-05, so that
almost qualified as another top 25 win as well. He will have another
chance for a ranked with this Saturday as Maryland is 25th in the USA
Today poll.
Clemson Looks for Second ACC Road Win in One Week
Clemson has an opportunity to do something it has not done in
10 years. It seems we have been saying that a lot lately. The Tigers
started this week with a 87-76 win over NC State in Raleigh. A win at
Maryland on Saturday would give Clemson two ACC road wins in the
same week for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
And, it is interesting to note that the last time Clemson
accomplished the feat, the second win of the week took place at
Maryland. Furthermore, Clemson has had two ACC road wins in the
same week just four times in its now 54 years in the league and three of
the four occurrences so far the second win of the week took place at
Maryland. The other seasons it took place were 1961-62, 1975-76, 1986-87 and 1996-97. That 10-year cycle is up again this year.
Game Notes
• Clemson tied the school record for consecutive wins
at the start of a season and at any point in a season
with its victory at NC State on January 9. Clemson
also had a 17-0 start to the 1986-87 season, Horace
Grant’s senior season. A win at Maryland will establish
a school record for consecutive wins and best
start to a season.
• Clemson has won five consecutive road games, the
first time the Tigers have done that since the 1996-
97 season. A victory at Maryland would give
Clemson a six-game road winning streak, its longest
since the record eight-game road winning streak
in 1986-87.
• Clemson has won four consecutive games against
Maryland under Oliver Purnell, the longest winning
streak in the series for the Tigers since 1949-51.
Purnell is 5-2 in his coaching career against Maryland,
4-2 at Clemson and 1-0 at Maryland.
• Clemson is the only undefeated team left in college
basketball. When Oregon defeated No. 1 ranked UCLA
on Jan. 6 it made the Tigers the last undefeated
standing.
• K.C. Rivers has scored in double figures in every
game this year even though he has not started. His
17-game streak of consecutive double figure scoring
games as a reserve is a Clemson record, breaking
the previous record of seven in a row by Dale Davis in 1988-89. He had 20 points to lead the Tigers
in scoring against Georgia Tech.
• Clemson has won its first three ACC games for the
first time since the 1996-97 season and for just the
fourth time in school history. The other seasons
were 1979-80, 1986-87 and 1996-97.
• A victory at Maryland would give Clemson three
consecutive ACC road wins. Clemson has not won
three straight ACC road games since the 1996-97
season when Clemson won at Virginia, Florida State
and Maryland to open the season.
• Clemson forward James Mays has played in 28
consecutive Clemson victories.
• Vernon Hamilton needs just six points to reach 1000
for his career. When he does so he will become
just the seventh point guard in Clemson history to
reach 1000 points, the first since Edward Scott.
• Clemson’s #14 ranking in USA Today is the
program’s best since a #14 ranking in AP on December
28, 1998.
• A win at Maryland would give Clemson two ACC
road wins in the same week for the first time since
1996-97 when Clemson won at Florida State (Jan.
11) ad at Maryland (Jan. 15). Clemson has had two
ACC road wins in the same week just four times.
• Clemson has had just eight turnovers each of the
last two years.
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