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Neighborhood rivalry Maryland, Georgetown travel a long way to play
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Maryland and Georgetown are located just around the corner from each other -- a 22-minute drive, according to Terrapins coach Gary Williams. Nevertheless, the neighboring schools have met only once in the last 21 years -- an 84-83 overtime victory by Maryland during the 1993-94 season. They'll play again Thursday night some 3,000 miles from home, but not by design. Rather, they're squaring off at Anaheim Arena in the West Regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament. "It's as big a game as we've played since I've been there," said Williams, finishing his 12th season at Maryland. "We have been to the Sweet 16 five times, and we'd like to get past it this year." Maryland hasn't advanced beyond the regional semifinals since 1975, and Williams-coached teams are 0-6 in previous regional semifinal games -- at Boston College in 1983 and 1985, and at Maryland in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999. Craig Esherick, in his second season as Georgetown's coach, said he's excited about playing Maryland mainly because of the game's meaning. "I'm looking forward to playing the game because we're in the Sweet 16," he said. "It would have significance if we were playing Cincinnati or Stanford." Esherick referred to the schools who will play in the second game of Thursday night's doubleheader. The winners meet Saturday for a berth in the Final Four. "It is interesting that we were put in the same bracket as Maryland," Esherick said. "I would like to play Maryland [in the regular season] before I stop coaching. How will that be accomplished? I don't know. Maybe President Bush will have to get involved." As Williams pointed out, the Terps and Hoyas stopped playing each other on a regular basis when Lefty Driesell was coaching Maryland and John Thompson was at Georgetown. "It wasn't Gary Williams and Craig Esherick," Williams said. Until recently, a Maryland-Georgetown matchup at this juncture of the tournament seemed unlikely. The third-seeded Terps struggled after blowing a 10-point lead over visiting Duke in the final minute and losing in 98-96 overtime Jan. 27, dropping four of their next five games capped by a 74-71 loss to lowly Florida State at home. "We were pretty embarrassed, I think it got us back on track," Terps forward Terence Morris said. "That was the turning point in our season." Maryland (23-10) has won eight of nine since being beaten by Florida State, the only loss an 84-82 setback to Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The 10th-seeded Hoyas (25-7) lost six of 10 games after starting 16-0, but rebounded to win five of their last six thanks mainly to a defense that has allowed over 70 points just once in those games. Maryland, meanwhile, is one of the country's highest-scoring teams, averaging nearly 86 points. "They're as talented as an offensive team as anybody we've played this year," Esherick said. "They're a versatile and explosive team. They have six or seven guys who can pass the ball, six or seven who can shoot the 3. "We're going to pick them up fullcourt, we're going to change defenses. If they score 86 points in an NCAA tournament game, we're going to be in trouble." Morris believes the Hoyas won't be able to stop the Terps. "We're a lot quicker than those guys," he said. "We can score a lot of points." The game will mark the first time best friends Juan Dixon of Maryland and Kevin Braswell of Georgetown have played against each other. The two have been close since meeting as sixth graders in Baltimore. "Tomorrow will be an emotional time, but once that ball goes up, we both know we have a job to do," said Braswell, averaging 11.3 points and 6.3 assists. "It's going to be very emotional for us," said Dixon, averaging 18.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. "I can't explain how important he is in my life, he's like a brother to me. The game also will be the third straight with a local angle for Maryland, not to mention the involvement of a George -- first-round opponent George Mason is located 12 miles from the Terps' campus, and second-round foe Georgia State is coached by Driesell, Maryland's coach from 1969-86.
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