COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Matt Doherty looked at the stat sheet, shook his head and let loose an audible sigh. Never in the history of North Carolina basketball had the Tar Heels allowed so many points in a game -- yet another indicator of the sad state of this once-proud program. Juan Dixon scored 29 points Wednesday night as No. 4 Maryland rolled to a 112-79 victory, the Terrapins' most lopsided victory in the 79-year-old rivalry and just two points shy of matching North Carolina's worst-ever Atlantic Coast Conference defeat. "What can I say? It was a very difficult experience," Doherty said. "It's hard to imagine that there are some better teams than Maryland. That's a darn good basketball team, and we've got a very long way to go." Maryland (12-2, 2-0) led by as many as 41 points before coach Gary Williams emptied his bench. But the margin of victory easily eclipsed Maryland's 25-point rout of North Carolina in February 1939. "You never expect it," Williams said. "Let's face it, we probably shot better than we have all year." The Terrapins went 44-for-76 from the field (58 percent) and matched their season high with 13 3-pointers. Steve Blake had a career-high 14 assists, Byron Mouton scored 17 points and Chris Wilcox added 16 for the Terrapins, who opened the second half with a 19-8 run to go up by 31. Jason Capel scored 27 points for the Tar Heels (5-7, 1-2). Down 102-61, North Carolina was in danger of eclipsing a dubious 35-point loss to Duke in 1964. That might happen later this season, because the Tar Heels are that young -- and that bad. No longer does the name "Carolina" induce fear in its opponents. "Who are those guys? They're just another team," Blake said. "Carolina's no special thing." Not this season, that's for sure, as evidenced by home losses to Hampton and Davidson. "The biggest thing is for us to stick together and work and hard and stay as positive as we can," Doherty said. "This is a very difficult time, and these are some difficult games." North Carolina had twice allowed 110 points, to Kentucky in 1989 and Florida State in 1992. The Tar Heels finished with 25 turnovers, including six by freshman Jawad Williams. Maryland and Dixon set the tone early, using early runs of 9-2 and 12-5 to take a 28-13 lead with seven minutes elapsed. Dixon, who had eight steals for the game, led the charge with 14 points, including two 3-pointers and two free throws following a technical foul against the flustered Doherty. The Tar Heels made eight of their first 11 field goal attempts -- all the misses were from 3-point range -- but had 10 turnovers and trailed 35-18 after nine minutes. North Carolina then missed its next five shots and twice turned the ball over as the Terrapins reeled off eight straight points to boost the margin to 25 points. The Tar Heels responded with an 8-0 run to close to 43-26. It was 49-28 before Williams made two straight baskets to spark a 9-2 spurt that cut the deficit to 14, but North Carolina would get no closer. Maryland led 67-45 early in the second half before Dixon hit a 3-pointer and Wilcox, Mouton and Lonny Baxter followed with dunks to give the Terrapins a 31-point cushion.

ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard North Carolina Clubhouse Maryland Clubhouse RECAPS Georgia 88 Kentucky 84 Maryland 112 North Carolina 79 Boston College 88 Villanova 81 Iowa St 71 Missouri 67 Alabama 92 Vanderbilt 79 Purdue 84 Illinois 75 Florida 104 Tennessee 100 Iowa 70 Northwestern 60 Kansas 96 Nebraska 57 AUDIO/VIDEO  Maryland vs. UNC Maryland runs roughshod over North Carolina. avi: 831 k Standard | Cable Modem  Maryland vs. UNC Maryland's Chris Wilcox throws down the alley-oop. avi: 1075 k Standard | Cable Modem  Maryland vs. UNC Maryland's Juan Dixon gets the steal and finishes at the other end. avi: 1176 k Standard | Cable Modem  Maryland vs. UNC Maryland's Steve Blake sets up Byron Mouton off the turnover. avi: 1585 k Standard | Cable Modem