Maryland has won six straight games, and with the victory against Elan, they ended the last month of 2008 without any loss. The last time the Terrapins achieved this feat was 8 years back. The 49ers on the other hand will be entering the court with a 5-6 record. The 49ers have won four games straight after losing six games earlier in the season.
The Terrapins have had an excellent record playing at the Comcast Center, so far they have won 8 games and lost none this season, and they still have three games to go. Maryland will be starting the year with playing host to the visiting 49ers. Terps will love to extend their winning record and ride over Charlotte.
Terps have a formidable line up with a very strong defense. None of their opponents have managed to score more than 60 points, and in the last three matches they didn't allow their opponents to score more than 51. They trail only North Carolina State in the ACC, with a scoring defense of 60.5 average points. NC State averages 60.3 points. Maryland allows only a .391 field goal percentage, and from the 3-point range this further shrinks to .282. Maryland is forcing opponents to turn over the ball 16.7 times each outing.
Greivis Vasquez, junior guard, is the leading scorer for Maryland with an average of 17.3 points per game. He also averages 6.3 rebounds per game and 5.3 assists per game and leads the Maryland in these departments too. He also leads the ACC with .913 free throw percentage.
Maryland also has excellent free throw percentage of .791, leading the ACC in the free throw domain and ranked sixth in the nation. Senior forward Dave Neal is third on the team with a 4.3 rebounds-per-game average, trailing Vasquez and Landon Milbourne with 4.8 points per game.
Charlotte on the other hand has won its last four games, including road game wins at Southern Illinois and Mississippi State and home wins over Youngstown State and Long Island. The matches, lost by the 49ers, either came in the overtime or just one point losses. Charlotte trails in the all time series against the Terps, 0-2. The last encounter between the two was won by Maryland, 76-72, in the last season.
49ers have some brilliant players like senior forward Lamont Mack, averaging 12.2 points per game. Junior guard Ian Anderson, who has scored 34 3-pointers in the first eleven games played by the 49ers and averages 10.6 points per game. Senior forward Charlie Coley leads the rebound for the 49ers, and DiJuan Harris is averaging 6.0 assists per game.
With both teams equally poised it will be any one's game at Comcast Center. It will be an exciting start for both the teams and for their fans too.
