Wake Forest University
Maryland
No. 10 Wake Forest Falls To No. 12 Maryland
1/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2001
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Juan Dixon scored 30 points and Lonny Baxter had 18 points and 15 rebounds as No. 12 Maryland cruised to a surprisingly easy 81-71 victory over 10th-ranked Wake Forest on Wednesday night.
Terence Morris scored 20 points for the Terrapins (13-4, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who were 0-3 against ranked teams this season. It was Maryland's first home win against a Top 25 team since 1998, against North Carolina.
Josh Howard scored a career-high 24 points and Darius Songaila had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (13-3, 2-3), who have lost three of four after a 12-0 start.
Unlike their other two losses - by one point at North Carolina and in overtime at Georgia Tech - this one wasn't close.
Craig Dawson, Wake Forest's leading scorer, was held scoreless and starting guard Robert O'Kelley, who scored his 1,700th career point last weekend, had only six points on 3-for-11 shooting.
Morris scored five points and Dixon twice went the distance after a steal during a 12-0 spree that put Maryland up 31-21 late in the first half. After Morris hit a follow shot and Dixon scored from the corner immediately after halftime, Wake Forest never got closer than seven points.
Maryland led 58-45 with 13:29 left and 67-55 with eight minutes remaining. It was 71-64 before Morris scored on an alley-oop off a fine pass from Steve Blake with 4:49 remaining, effectively ending Wake Forest's slim hopes of a comeback.
For the 17th time in as many games, Maryland led at halftime. Holding O'Kelley scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting and getting 13 points from Dixon, Maryland built a 41-33 lead.
After Wake Forest opened the game with a 6-0 run, the Terrapins responded with 10 straight points. Minutes later, as the game became more physical, Demon Deacons coach Dave Odom received a technical foul.
Then, during an 8-0 run by Wake Forest, Maryland coach Gary Williams was slapped with a technical. But shortly after that the Terrapins went on their pivotal 12-0 run.
