| Terps open tourney play against Cougars |
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| === Terps open tourney play against Cougars === Spokane, WA (Sports Network) - The fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins have won their last nine first-round matchups in the NCAA Tournament and they will try to continue that streak tonight against the 13th-seeded Houston Cougars at Spokane Memorial Arena. The survivor of this Midwest Regional bout will move on to meet either Michigan State or New Mexico State in the second round on Sunday. The Terps claimed a share of the ACC regular season crown with Duke and had won seven straight games prior to losing to Georgia Tech in their first game of the league tourney. Still, Maryland's 23 wins were plenty for it to earn the program's 14th NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 17 seasons. In 24 prior showings in the NCAA Tournament, the Terps have gone 37-22 and they haven't dropped a first round game since 1997. As for the Cougars, their longest winning streak of the season was just three games prior to them ripping off four consecutive victories to capture the Conference USA Tournament title as the No.7 seed. This is Houston's 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but its first since 1992. The program owns a 26-23 all-time mark in the event, including five Final Four appearances. Houston and Maryland have split two prior encounters on the hardwood, with the Cougars notching a 60-50 win in the 1983 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional. The Cougars have done a terrific job protecting the ball this season, ranking second in the nation with only 9.1 turnovers per game. Houston has also done a nice job forcing 16.9 turnovers per game, and the positive turnover margin has helped the club to a scoring average of 78.6 ppg. Aubrey Coleman leads Houston and the entire nation in scoring with a healthy 25.6 ppg. The elusive guard also pulls down a solid 7.4 rpg, to go with an impressive 91 steals. Providing some help for Coleman and company is Kelvin Lewis, who checks in with 15.3 ppg on the strength of 39.8 percent shooting from downtown. Lewis showed he his potential in the C-USA title game, when he went off for 28 points. The Terps are a team that can match the firepower of Houston, as they are averaging an even better 79.3 ppg on the campaign. Maryland is also led by its own star in Greivis Vasquez, who was named the ACC Player of the Year after leading the team with 19.5 ppg, 6.2 apg and 52 steals. Landon Milbourne follows with 12.5 ppg and he also collects 4.9 rpg, while Eric Hayes tacks on 11.1 ppg and 3.8 apg. Sean Mosley gets in the mix with 10.5 ppg and 5.2 rpg, and Jordan Williams rips down a team-high 8.3 rpg for the Terps. 03/19 10:39:08 ET |
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