ATLANTA'The best college basketball school never to win a national title now has a championship banner to hang anywhere it wants. Maryland finally reached the top of the NCAA Tournament mountain Monday night, and they did it in thrilling style, beating dogged Indiana, 64-52.
Let's hope you taped this one for years of reviewing, because it was worth the decade upon decade of frustration and delay that Maryland alumni and Washington fans have endured. Forget those comparisons of the Terps to various frustrated Red Sox or Vikings analogies, which some of us have heard for a lifetime. The years of near-less and never-was in College Park are now over. Whatever comes, Maryland has its precious championship memory.
When these Terrapins, truly as persistent as the tortoises of ancient fable ever since they were ousted from the Final Four last season, finally reached their goal, they did it in unique style. No other NCAA school needed 19 trips to the sport's big dance to finally get kissed. But, in the 2,002nd game in its varsity history, Maryland ended one of the most star-crossed sagas in sports by beating a school with a glory-laden basketball tradition. Thousands of red-clad Terps fans erupted in cheers and chants of \Fear the Turtle"" and ""Let's Go Terps"" as the clock finally ran out.
What Len Elmore, Tom McMillen and John Lucas couldn't do, senior guard Juan Dixon and senior forward Lonny Baxter accomplished last night against underdog Indiana. The pair led Maryland scorers, as they have all year, with 18 and 15 points. In their moment of victory, Dixon and Baxter fell together at midcourt in a long hug as their four-year quest finally ended.
Where Buck Williams and Albert King came up short, sophomore forward Chris Wilcox and junior guard Steve Blake finished the job. With Indiana raining down three-point shots from ridiculous distances, even as ""turtles"" flew past their faces, the power forward and the point guard came up with clutch performances.
Where Gene Shue, Steve Francis, Len Bias, Joe Smith and Walt Williams never had the high-quality supporting cast to make a title run, these Terps had the perfect role players in senior guard Byron Mouton, junior guard Drew Nicholas and junior forward Tahj Holden to make their jobs easier. All three played their parts perfectly, adding toughness on defense and in the rebound battles, where Maryland dominated.
You could go decades and not see a championship game in any sport that offered as many, and as stark, contrasts in playing styles and personal backgrounds as Maryland against Indiana.
Indiana's second-highest scorer, junior guard Tom Coverdale, is from Noblesville, Ind.
""The mayor sent me a fruit basket on behalf of the whole town,"" he said.
The mayors of Baltimore and Washington have, presumably, not sent fruit baskets on behalf of their entire populations to Maryland's Dixon and Baxter.
Maryland quickly established the presence of its two main stars as Baxter hit two quick shots, ignoring Indiana's multiple shot blockers, and Dixon showed that the Hoosiers' grabclaw-and-hold defensive stopper, senior guard Dane Fife, couldn't shut him down.
But, after Fife hit a three-pointer, Dixon answered just seconds later with a three-pointer from the corner, right in Fife's face. Dixon then hit a pull-up jumper on Maryland's next possession and, by halftime, had 11 points to Fife's three.
True to its image of itself, Indiana never gave an inch, even when Maryland was on the verge of opening truly significant leads.
""We are athletic. But it is our heart and character that is better,"" Coverdale said. ""Hearing we are not tough just makes us mad. I thought we were tougher than Oklahoma.""
Indiana made one serious run in the second half, even taking a brief lead at 46-44. Then, Maryland finished its season of glory with one final trademark explosion of its own as it ran off a 22-3 streak to close out its season.
