Acc Tournament

COLLEGE PARK - In one sense, the pressure was off the Maryland Terrapins, who had bagged an Atlantic Coast Conference title and a top seed in this weekend's conference tournament three nights before tipping off in their final regular-season game. In another sense, the pressure was everywhere on Sunday night, when the second-ranked Terps laid one more rout on another ACC opponent by disposing of Virginia, 112-92. Besides the fact that the Terps were determined to conclude the Cole Field House era and their regular season on a high note by achieving a 15-0 mark at home and a best-ever 25-3 record, there was the craving of the fans for one more victory and a little peer pressure in the house.

How deep is the talent in the Atlantic Coast Conference? In November, North Carolina's Rashad McCants was the cover boy on Sports Illustrated's College basketball preview. On Monday, McCants learned he was a third-team selection in All-ACC balloting. McCants missed the last four games with an intestinal disorder and practiced yesterday for the fist time since Feb. 19. He still might not be available for tomorrow's quarterfinals, but North Carolina and the rest of the conference march on. Even minus a player of the caliber of McCants, the ACC would hold its own against the rest of the nation in a fantasy game.

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- For a moment, it looked as if the Georgia Tech women's basketball team could pull it off.All weekend, the unheralded seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets had taken the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for a thrill ride, knocking off Maryland, then 18th-ranked Clemson to reach last night's championship game.Their reward was a meeting with No. 1 Virginia, and just as they had beaten the Terps and Tigers on the last shot, Georgia Tech had the ball on the last possession and a chance to win.But senior forward Allison Echols' desperation three-pointer with three seconds left fell short, and the Cavaliers had pulled out a 70-69 win before 4,154 at the Winthrop Coliseum to capture the ACC tournament, and a certain top seed in the NCAA tournament in two weeks.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- They are long removed from the days when moral victories mattered, when a down-to-the-overtime-buzzer defeat to North Carolina in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament might be looked upon as a monumental achievement at Maryland.But if yesterday's 97-92 loss to the second-seeded, fourth-ranked Tar Heels at the Greensboro Coliseum was a huge disappointment for the fourth-seeded, 10th-ranked Terrapins, it was also as uplifting a defeat as anyone could have imagined.

Greensboro, N.C.-- --Don't worry about what the other teams on the so-called NCAA tournament bubble are doing this week, Gary Williams had preached more than once. Take care of what you can control, your own play. His Maryland players are nothing if not obedient. They looked and sounded focused as their ACC tournament opener approached, and last night at the Greensboro Coliseum, they controlled the game against Georgia Tech, to the tune of 82-64 - and with it, as much of their destiny as they could.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Not long after top-seeded Duke escaped with an 80-76 quarterfinal win over a Miami team that botched its final opportunities at an upset, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski was already talking about tomorrow's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title game. In the past 20 seasons, only five times has a team won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and gone on to win the conference tournament. "This is not an easy thing to win, especially after winning the regular season," Krzyzewski said.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina scored one goal in the second half last night, and it still beat Maryland, 14-9.It must be time for the Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse tournament.The Tar Heels have never lost in the ACC tournament, and evidently they have no plans to do so in the seventh edition. They ran their record in the tournament to 13-0 with their semifinal defeat of the Terps before 3,528 at Fetzer Field, setting up an all-Tobacco Road finale.North Carolina will meet Duke, a 17-10 winner over Virginia, in tomorrow's (1 p.m.)

GREENSBORO, N.C. - A year ago, the scenario looked so different when the University of Maryland came to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Regardless of how they performed, the Terrapins knew they already had secured a trip to the East Regional as the school's first-ever top seed in NCAA tournament history. One year after losing in the conference tournament semifinals, then rolling to their first NCAA championship, 14th-ranked Maryland has something far more tangible to shoot for - besides the chance to win the school's first official league crown since 1984 and only the third in the ACC's 50 years.

WASHINGTON - If Terrapin Nation was contemplating a pity party yesterday, Gary Williams was on the microphone, setting the record straight. Q. "Coach, does it make it worse that the ACC tournament is finally in your back yard and you're out of it by 2 p.m. on Thursday?" Williams, after permitting himself a moderate pause in which to work up a classic gym rat/paranoiac/competitor's sneer, responded: "No, it makes it more special that we kicked everyone's butt in Greensboro last year." Roll that highlight tape all night, baby.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After the NCAA tournament field is announced tonight, what travel plans will Maryland be making? Participation in a school-record seventh straight tournament has long been a given for the Terps, who are ranked No. 20 in the nation and were No. 15 through Friday's games in replicas of the Rating Percentage Index. That's the strength of schedule-based formula the NCAA uses as a comparative tool during the selection process. Duke, Maryland's foe in today's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship, is expected to be the No. 1 seed in the East Region, and open in nearby Winston-Salem, on Wake Forest's home court.