Hostile ground

Terps battling No. 1 Heels, Smith Center crowd

College Park -- Until last season, Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams had taken his Terrapins to Chapel Hill every year since returning to his alma mater in 1989, and during that period had fared better than any coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference not named Mike Krzyzewski.

The odds have often been against Maryland at the Smith Center - OK, the Dean Dome - but none bigger than they might be today.

Maryland@North Carolina today, 3:30 p.m., chs. 2, 7, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Records: Maryland (11-7, 1-2 ACC); No. 1 North Carolina (18-0, 3-0 ACC) Line: North Carolina by 18 1/2

Against the best

Gary Williams' wins at Maryland vs. No. 1 teams:

1994-95

No. 8 Terps beat N. Carolina 86-73

Maryland finished 26-8, 12-4 in ACC, reached NCAA Sweet 16

1997-98

Terps beat North Carolina, 89-83

Finished 21-11, 10-6 in ACC, reached Sweet 16

2001-02

No. 3 Terps beat Duke, 87-73

Finished 32-4, 15-1 in ACC, won NCAA championship

2002-03

No. 17 Terps won at Duke, 87-72

Finished 21-10, 11-5 in ACC, reached Sweet 16

2003-04

Terps won at Florida, 69-68

Finished 20-12, 7-9 in ACC, won ACC tournament, reached 2nd round