Jan. 24, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) – James Gist scored 16 of his career-high 26 points in the pivotal first half, and Maryland handed Georgia Tech its 16th straight road loss, 80-65 Wednesday night.
Gist made all six of his field-goal tries and the Terrapins went 16-for-31 in building a 43-26 halftime lead. Maryland (16-5, 2-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) never let the margin slip below 11 points in the second half.
Gist, a junior forward, surpassed his previous career high of 18 points with a layup that made it 62-48 with 7:58 left. He went 10-for-11 from the floor.
D.J. Strawberry scored 13 and Eric Hayes had 12 points and seven assists for the Terrapins, who had lost three of four in their worst ACC start since the 1992-93 season.
Thaddeus Young led Georgia Tech (13-6, 2-4) with 21 points. The Yellow Jackets haven’t won a road game since Feb. 26, 2005, and they never led in this one.
Georgia Tech has dropped five straight to Maryland, including an 87-84 decision on the road last season.
The Yellow Jackets came in averaging 82.7 points per game, and their shooting percentage of 50.7 was tops in the ACC. Against Maryland, they went 29-for-61 (47.5 percent), including 1-for-17 from 3-point range, and were 6-for-16 at the foul line.
Any hope Georgia Tech had of ending its road streak all but disappeared in the first half, when the Terrapins used runs of 17-5 and 13-2 to leave Georgia Tech facing its largest halftime deficit of the season.
After Gist scored seven points to give Maryland a 9-8 lead, the Terrapins spread the ball around the lengthen the advantage.
It was 17-13 before Hayes hit a layup, then threw a 60-foot pass that Bambale Osby converted into a dunk. Greivis Vazquez followed with a 3-pointer and Ekene Ibekwe added two free throws to put the Terps up by 13.
After Georgia Tech tallied successive dunks, Gist scored seven points and Strawberry had six in a 13-2 spurt that made it 39-19. A dunk by Gist capped the run and a torrid stretch in which the Terrapins made 10 of 12 shots from the floor.
Georgia Tech, in contrast, was 12-for-29 in the first half. The Yellow Jackets missed seven of eight 3-point tries, were 1-for-7 at the line and committed 13 turnovers.
