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NCAA Tournament Recap (Creighton-Maryland)
Posted: Sat March 13, 1999 at 5:34 p.m. EST ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- Terence Morris scored seven of his 18 first-half points during a key 12-0 run late in the period to help Maryland record a 75-63 victory over 10th-seeded Creighton in a second-round NCAA Tournament contest in the South Region. The Terrapins (28-5) used the 12-0 spurt to build a 13-point halftime advantage. Lonny Baxter netted Maryland's first six points of the second half, and the Blue Jays came no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Morris finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Baxter contributed 16 points for the Terrapins, who will play St. John's in the regional semifinals Thursday in Knoxville, Tennessee. Rodney Buford scored 13 points to finish his career as the all-time leading scorer in Creighton history. His total of 2,116 points moved him ahead of Bob Harstad, who accumulated 2,110 from 1987-1991. Ben Walker led the way with 15 points for the Blue Jays (22-9), who have not made the regional semifinals since 1974, when it took just one win to reach that point. A 3-pointer by Nerijus Karlikanovas brought Creighton within 29-27 with 5:09 left in the first half. But the Blue Jays would not score again until he converted a layup with 1:12 to go before the break as the Terrapins took control. Morris threw down a dunk and was fouled. Although he did not hit the free throw, he was fouled again while scoring on a follow shot and this time converted from the line to give Maryland a 34-27 lead with 4:35 left in the half. Steve Francis had a tip-in for Maryland, Morris hit two from the line and Juan Dixon capped the 12-point outburst by draining a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Terps a 41-27 lead with just over two minutes to go before the break. Francis, a 6-3 point guard, grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with his 18 points and two assists. He helped the Terrapins build a 48-32 advantage of the boards that offset their 41 percent (23-of-56) shooting performance from the field. Karlikanovas' layup briefly stemmed the tide, but Morris took a feed from Laron Profit to convert a layup and hit two from the line with 18 seconds left in the half, pushing Maryland's advantage to 45-29. Only a 3-pointer by Buford as the buzzer sounded allowed the Blue Jays to be within 13 points at the break. Baxter's six points in the opening moments of the second half was partially answered by Buford, who scored the first four points of the period for Creighton, and his jumper with 17:25 left pulled the Blue Jays within 51-36. But Francis scored the next six points on two free throws and a pair of layups to push the lead to 47-36 with just under 15 minutes to play. Creighton fought back, however, using an 11-2 spurt to close within 67-57 with five minutes left on Ryan Sears' 3-pointer from the right wing. But the Blue Jays went ice cold over the next 3 1/2 minutes as Maryland sealed the victory with eight free throws. Donnie Johnson netted 13 points and Sears dished out seven assists for the Blue Jays, who shot just 34 percent (21-of-61) and were 7-of-32 from beyond the arc. Creighton hit just 3-of-17 3-point shots in the Maryland went 25-of-32 from the foul line, while Creighton made 14 of its 20 free throws.© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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