This Maryland Victory Is Special

Gary Williams stomped and shouted his way up and down the Maryland sideline. Yet even when his team trailed by as many as 21 points, he never panicked. Instead, he lectured his team on Maryland’s rich basketball history.

The Terrapins responded with the biggest comeback in Atlantic Coast Conference tournament history, overcoming a 19-point halftime deficit to beat No. 17 North Carolina State, 85-82, Saturday in a semifinal at Greensboro, N.C.

“We talked at halftime about the tradition of the university ... the great teams and great players,” Williams said. “We have a great deal of pride on this team this year and we knew we were going to come out and play in the second half.”

The charge was led by John Gilchrist, who scored 23 of his career-high 30 points during the second half rally that put the sixth-seeded Terrapins (18-11) into today’s final against top-seeded Duke.

It’s the Terrapins’ first championship appearance since 2000, and they’ll be going for their first title since Len Bias and Coach Lefty Driesell led them to the 1984 championship against the Johnny Dawkins-led Blue Devils.

“Winning would be a great thing because the winner is the champion of the league,” Williams said. “I know we did it in 1958 and then again in the ‘80s. But there have been good teams that didn’t win it. Lefty had good teams that didn’t win it.”

This time Maryland will be facing the Blue Devils, who beat the Terrapins twice this season by a combined 31 points.

“They beat us pretty good at their place [by 23], but we gave them a game at home,” Gilchrist said. “I think here on a neutral site, it will be a game and we’ll be ready to go.”

Gilchrist, a sophomore, has come up big in this tournament for the Terrapins, making the game-winning free throw in the 87-86 victory over No. 15 Wake Forest in the quarterfinals.

And he came through against North Carolina State (20-9), going 11 for 13 from the field, including five three-point baskets.

But the Wolfpack, best free-throw shooting team in the nation at 79%, went 17 for 22 against Maryland.

Julius Hodge, who scored 31 points, missed one of two with 29 seconds left and the Wolfpack trailing, 81-78.

Nik Caner-Medley was fouled and made both free throws, giving the Terrapins an 83-79 lead.

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Shelden Williams had 20 points and 18 rebounds to lift No. 5 Duke to an 85-71 victory over No. 14 Georgia Tech in the other semifinal.

Duke (27-4) has won a record 17 consecutive ACC tournament games, and is seeking to become the first team in the conference to win six straight championships. The Blue Devils haven’t lost a tournament game since North Carolina beat them, 83-68, in the 1998 final.

With the score tied in the second half, Duke scored on 20 of 22 possessions to close the game. The Blue Devils did it in several ways, scoring on drives, passes off penetration and offensive rebounds. They led by as many as 20 points and committed no turnovers after the break.

Last week, Georgia Tech (23-9) used its athleticism and physical defense to beat the Blue Devils, 76-68, ending Duke’s 41-game home winning streak.

Duke returned the favor Saturday, playing tough defense during a decisive 17-4 run midway through the second half.

The Blue Devils shot 52% and got 46 points in the paint, many coming on layups by Williams and Luol Deng, who had 19 points. They also had just six turnovers and made 25 of 38 free throws.

ATLANTIC 10

Xavier clinched an NCAA tournament berth for the fourth year in a row by defeating Dayton, 58-49, in the conference championship game at Dayton, Ohio.

The Musketeers (23-10) did not dominate as they had in their three previous tournament games, won by an average of 23 points. Included was a stunning 87-67 rout of previously unbeaten, top-ranked Saint Joseph’s in the quarterfinals.

Xavier enters its 15th NCAA tournament riding a six-game win streak and having won 13 of its last 14.

The Flyers (24-8) missed their final 11 shots from the field and didn’t make a basket during the final 8 1/2 minutes.

BIG EAST

Junior guard Ben Gordon led No. 9 Connecticut (27-6) to its record-tying sixth conference title with a 61-58 victory over sixth-ranked Pittsburgh (29-4) at Madison Square Garden.

Gordon was the star for the Huskies (27-6) in the first two games when center Emeka Okafor was out with back spasms. He scored 23 points in the championship game, but it was his jumper in the lane with 30 seconds left that gave them a 59-58 lead. He made two free throws with 0.5 of a second to play to clinch the win.

He had 29 points in each of the first two games and set a tournament record for points with 81, two more than Allen Iverson of Georgetown had in 1996.

Okafor played Saturday night and he had 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.

BIG TEN

No. 10 Wisconsin (23-6) advanced to today’s championship game with a 68-66 victory over Michigan State (18-11) at Indianapolis.

The Badgers will play No. 12 Illinois, the defending tournament and regular-season champion today for an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The Illini (24-5) advanced with a 74-60 victory over Michigan (18-11).

BIG 12

Brandon Mouton scored 10 straight points, including consecutive three-point baskets, during a 12-4 run late in the second half that sent No. 11 Texas (23-6) past No. 18 Kansas, 64-60, in the tournament semifinals at Dallas.

The Jayhawks (21-8) led briefly early in the second half and tied it at 45-45 with 9:40 left. Jason Klotz put Texas ahead, then Mouton took over, scooping in a layup, making another basket followed by the two three-pointers.

The Longhorns will play No. 7 Oklahoma State for the title. The Cowboys (26-3) advanced with an 82-77 victory over Texas Tech (22-10) in the other semifinal.

CONFERENCE USA

No. 13 Cincinnati (24-6) won its fourth conference championship by defeating DePaul, 55-50, at Cincinnati.

DePaul (21-9) shot a season-low 35.3% from the field in its second tournament final. The Blue Demons lost to Saint Louis in the 2000 game.

SOUTHEASTERN

Gerald Fitch and Erik Daniels put Kentucky back in a familiar place.

Fitch came off the bench to score 24 points and Daniels had 21 to help the eighth-ranked Wildcats(25-4) beat South Carolina, 78-63, for a chance to win their 25th conference tournament championship.

The Wildcats, who improved to 17-0 in SEC tournament semifinals, will play Florida for the title and an automatic NCAA berth.

The Gamecocks (23-10) had won two straight in the tournament after ending the regular season with four losses in seven games.

Anthony Roberson scored a career-high 35 points to lead Florida (20-9) to a 91-69 victory over Vanderbilt (21-9) in the other semifinal.

The Gators made 17 of 24 shots in the second half and finished at 63% (32 of 51) overall. They turned a game that was tight at halftime -- Florida led 40-38 -- into a rout.