Acc Tournament

At Greensboro (N.C.) ColiseumFirst round: Thursday(8) Fla. State vs. (9) N.C. State, 7: 30Quarterfinals: Friday(4) Duke vs. (5) Maryland, noon(1) Ga. Tech vs. 8-9 winner, 2: 30(2) Wake For. vs. (7) Virginia, 7(3) N.C. vs. (6) Clemson, 9: 30Semifinals: SaturdayGa. TechFla. St.-N.C. St. winner vs. Duke-Md. winner, 1: 30Wake-Va. winner vs. N.C.-Clemson winner, 4Championship: SundaySemifinal winners, 1Pub Date: 3/05/96

North Carolina senior attackman Marcus Holman (Gilman) was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday. Holman is the 11th Tar Heel to earn ACC Player of the Year honors. He was chosen as the ACC tournament Most Valuable Player after tallying four goals and seven assists in two games. He has a league-leading 74 points this season, matching the third-most in a single season in North Carolina history, and he has the chance to be the first Tar Heel to finish the season atop the league in points per game since 1985.

At 6-7, Virginia's only hope for avoiding its first absence from the NCAA tournament since 2004 is upsetting No. 4 Maryland this Friday and then disposing of either No. 1 Duke or No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Cavaliers figure to be downright ornery as they fight for their postseason lives, and coach John Tillman acknowledged that he is worried about the Terps (9-2) matching their opponent's intensity at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. “That's certainly a concern,” he said during his weekly conference call Tuesday.

At 6-7, Virginia's only hope for avoiding its first absence from the NCAA tournament since 2004 is upsetting No. 4 Maryland this Friday and then disposing of either No. 1 Duke or No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Cavaliers figure to be downright ornery as they fight for their postseason lives, and coach John Tillman acknowledged that he is worried about the Terps (9-2) matching their opponent's intensity at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. “That's certainly a concern,” he said during his weekly conference call Tuesday.

Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams is expected to be released from the hospital within the next two days -- possibly by today -- but assistant Billy Hahn will continue to coach the Terrapins through this week's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.Williams has been at the Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park since last Tuesday, when he was admitted with pneumonia. Williams' condition was upgraded from fair to good Sunday. Those who have seen Williams, who turned 50 Saturday, say that he is progressing.

While the banners are being hung and the floor is being polished in preparation for tomorrow's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C., conference officials are attempting to come up with a workable format for next year's jamboree.The ACC will welcome a ninth team, Florida State, next year for all sports except football, and the Seminoles' inclusion will force the conference to rework its tournament format for many sports, including basketball.The league is kicking around a few new formats for the tournament, one of which could give a bye to a last-place team.

TAMPA, Fla.-- --Finally, my first ACC men's basketball tournament. I'd heard the stories from coaches, players and fellow sportswriters for years and have looked forward to experiencing the event in person. The rich tradition. The frenzied excitement. The flip-flops and sunscreen. Yep, you read that right. Something funny happened when the tournament made the trek from Tobacco Road to the Cigar City. That little thing that made the event so special seems to have gotten lost, stranded at a Waffle House in Georgia probably.

WASHINGTON - Is it still the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with Hokies and Hurricanes sprinkled among the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Wolfpack? Is it still the ACC tournament when fans are taking the Metro to watch games in a pro arena on the outskirts of Washington's Chinatown district? Is it still the ACC tournament when six teams are eliminated before Duke takes its first dribble? The answer to all those questions is, of course, literally yes. College basketball's oldest postseason major conference tournament is indeed being held here this week.

COLLEGE PARK -- This might be the weekend when the Maryland women's basketball team learns if its postseason future is doomed because of its failure to learn from its past.The 12th-ranked Terps head to Rock Hill, S.C., and the 16th Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with the second seed in hand, and a 1 p.m. quarterfinal meeting today with seventh seed Florida State.But Maryland (20-6, 11-5) came to last year's tournament with the second seed, and was bounced in the opening round, 68-67, by Georgia Tech, which capped a 17-point second-half deficit on a last-second put-back by Joyce Pierce.

College Park -- With the Maryland women's basketball team on the cusp of setting new standards this season, coach Brenda Frese is not taking a sit-back-and-see approach to the program's hopes of its first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament crown since 1989. "I always say that I don't want to sit and wait until next year because our chemistry is right this year," Frese said. "Everything is well in place this season and I think the sky's the limit for this team. We just need everyone being confident and believing in themselves and sticking together."

Niko Amato tried his best to downplay the importance of No. 6 Maryland's 8-7 decision against No. 14 Yale at Byrd Stadium in College Park on Saturday. But even the redshirt junior goalkeeper acknowledged that the Terps may have been fortunate to emerge with the victory. “It's just another steppingstone for us,” he began. “Yale's a Top 10 team and a really good opponent, and we haven't really seen much of them before this year. I thought we could've played better and to come out with a win is always good when you didn't play your best game.” Maryland should have plenty of material to review this week as the team prepares to meet No. 19 Virginia in one semifinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

PPL Park in Chester, Pa., will host the Atlantic Coast Conference men's lacrosse tournament in 2014 and 2015, the conference announced Wednesday. It will mark the first time in eight years that the tournament has been held at a neutral site. The 18,500-seat stadium, home to Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union, will be the host venue for the ACC on April 25-27, 2014, and again in the spring of 2015. Next season will be the fourth time in the 26-year history of the tournament that the event has been held at a neutral site.

No. 4 Maryland was the primary beneficiary of No. 2 Duke's come-from-behind 19-16 victory over No. 16 Virginia Friday night, earning the top seed in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Terps (8-1) finished with a 2-1 record in the league, which was shared by the Blue Devils (10-4) and No. 3 North Carolina (8-3). With the head-to-head results among the three teams and their record against the Cavaliers (5-7) being equal, the next tiebreaker was goals allowed among the three leaders.

ESPN analyst Mark Dixon participated in a Q&A on Monday. The former Johns Hopkins midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via @Dixonlacrosse, also addressed a few questions about No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Loyola, No. 15 Johns Hopkins and Towson. Do you think Maryland has to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament to earn the top seed in the NCAA tournament? It's interesting. The NCAA tournament has proven in the past that it's your whole body of work, not just how hot you are at the end of the season or how cold you might be. The way that teams have been beating each other, this weekend was the first week where there wasn't major upheaval in the top 10. Does that mean that things are stabilizing?

Maryland's continuing quest for basketball redemption led it to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, with the opportunity to fashion an upbeat ending to a season that had once seemed all but lost. But after winning five of their previous six games, the Terps saw their season end in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals as an old problem - turnovers - resurfaced at a particularly inopportune time. Iowa's 71-60 victory was forged largely by defense and Roy Devyn Marble, who scored 21 points.

With last Saturday's 9-7 win against No. 15 and Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia, No. 4 Maryland improved to 7-1 and joined No. 5 Cornell (9-1) and Marist as the Division I teams with the fewest losses this season. The Terps have upcoming contests against Navy this Friday, No. 12 Johns Hopkins on April 13, No. 17 Yale on April 20, the ACC tournament on April 26-28 and Colgate on May 4, but barring some upsets, it would seem that the team has compiled enough wins to earn an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament.

COLLEGE PARK - Before playing at Madison Square Garden in the 1990 ECAC Holiday Festival, Walt Williams was considered an up-and-coming player for a down-and-out program. A junior, Williams had stayed at Maryland rather than transferring to another school without penalty after the Terps were put on a harsh probation by the NCAA. Ineligible to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament or the NCAA tournament that season because of the sanctions, the late December tournament at a place often called "The World's Most Famous Arena" became a showcase for the 6-foot-8 guard from Temple Hills known as "The Wizard" and a program under second-year coach Gary Williams.

There were plenty of competing feelings as the Terps quietly packed up their gear Saturday to leave Greensboro Coliseum, their home for four days. The strip containing the Maryland logo was removed from the locker room door. The Terps still were a little dazed that their ambitions of winning the ACC tournament -- and the automatic NCAA tournament berth that comes with it -- had been put to rest. Logan Aronhalt removed his ear buds  and patiently answered questions about his errant shot to try to tie the game with 10 seconds left.