Maryland 78, Tulane 70

RECAP

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland (Ticker) -- Juan Dixon followed his strong performance in the season opener with a 25-point effort as No. 22 Maryland rallied past Tulane, 78-70, and advanced to the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.

Dixon, a sophomore, made 9-of-17 shots and scored 20 points in Wednesday's opening round win over San Francisco. He had 20 in the second half tonight, including eight in a 10-0 run in the final three minutes.

"Juan Dixon is a good competitor," said Maryland coach Gary Williams, who recorded career win No. 401. "I've been saying that all along. He did it again tonight. He wanted the ball in that situation and it was great to see."

Player of the Year candidate Terence Morris added 20 points and seven blocks for the Terrapins (2-0), who will face Kentucky in one semifinal at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wednesday. The Terrapins trailed by as many as 17 midway through the first half and 51-46 just under three minutes into the second.

"It's never going to be dull this year," added Williams. "I think we are a pretty good team right now to get to the semifinals of the NIT."

Sterling Davis had 24 points and Dylan Osean added 17 for the Green Wave (1-1), who were facing Maryland for the first time.

Trello Galloway's layup with 2:52 left in the contest resulted in a 67-67 tie and Dixon buried a jump shot nine seconds later to ignite the game's pivotal run. Steve Blake hit a free throw with 2:20 remaining and Dixon grabbed a rebound and sank a 3-pointer for a 73-67 cushion.

After a missed layup by Tulane's Morris Jordan, Dixon hit another 3-pointer with 65 seconds to go. Morris capped the burst with a free throw with 25 seconds left to put Maryland on top 77-67.

"You know the run is coming," Tulane coach Perry Clark said. "They've beaten some awfully tough people in this place."

Tulane held a 42-27 rebounding edge but committed 25 turnovers.

BOXSCORE

TULANE (70)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Osean           28  7-10   1-1   1-6  2  0   17
Davis           32 10-19   3-4   2-3  1  3   24
Jordan          15   2-7   0-0   3-4  0  5    4
Mason           30   1-4   1-3   2-3  2  1    3
Marsh           28   2-9   0-0   1-8  8  2    4
Billingsley     16   1-5   0-0   0-3  1  2    2
Johnson         15   2-3   0-0   3-5  1  2    4
Galloway        19   5-8   1-2   4-5  2  4   12
Miles           17   0-3   0-0   0-0  2  2    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-68  6-10 16-37 19 21   70
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Percentages: FG-.441, FT-.600. 3-Point Goals:
4-14, .286 (Osean 2-4, Davis 1-5, Mason 0-2,
Galloway 1-1, Miles 0-2). Team rebounds: 5.
Blocked shots: 3 (Galloway, Johnson, Jordan).
Turnovers: 25 (Mason 7, Marsh 5, Osean 5,
Billingsley 3, Galloway 2, Miles 2, Davis).
Steals: 12 (Davis 4, Marsh 2, Mason 2, Miles 2,
Galloway, Osean).

MARYLAND (78)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Miller          29   1-1   2-2   0-1  2  1    4
Morris          36  7-12   5-8   1-5  1  2   20
Baxter          31  5-11   1-4   3-8  0  2   11
Dixon           36  8-12   4-6   0-3  5  2   25
Blake           34   3-6   1-2   1-2 11  3    8
Nicholas        18   2-7   0-0   0-0  2  2    6
Mardesich       15   2-5   0-0   1-3  1  0    4
Holden           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 28-54 13-22  6-22 22 12   78
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.519, FT-.591. 3-Point Goals:
9-17, .529 (Morris 1-2, Dixon 5-7, Blake 1-3,
Nicholas 2-5). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots:
14 (Morris 7, Mardesich 4, Baxter 3). Turnovers:
20 (Blake 6, Baxter 5, Dixon 4, Mardesich 3,
Morris, Nicholas). Steals: 17 (Blake 6, Nicholas
4, Dixon 3, Morris 2, Baxter, Mardesich).
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Tulane             47   23  -   70
Maryland           44   34  -   78
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Tulane 1 (Johnson).  A: 14,500.
Officials: Gary Maxwell, Robert Pennington, Gary
Wall.