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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Maryland rolled to its sixth consecutive victory,
and Lonny Baxter earned the trophy he coveted.
|  | | Maryland's Lonny Baxter went inside on Connecticut for 24 points and 10 rebounds. |
Baxter had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Juan Dixon scored 16
points as Maryland (No. 2 ESPN/USA Today; No. 3 Associated Press) pulled away in the second half to beat
Connecticut 77-65 Monday night and win the BB&T Classic.
Baxter, who went 8-for-10 from the field and 8-for-10 from the
foul line, was an overwhelming selection as tournament most valuable player.
"It's my senior year, I'm from D.C. I really wanted this MVP
trophy tonight," the 6-foot-8 center said. "I just came out
playing my hardest and we got the game."
And Baxter got a keepsake from his final appearance in the
four-team tournament.
"He deserved it," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "He was
just a warrior out there for us the whole night."
The Terrapins (6-1), unbeaten since opening the season with a
defeat against Arizona, used a 16-4 run to expand a two-point halftime
lead to 52-38. Baxter and Tahj Holden each had six points in the
spree and Dixon contributed two baskets.
Sunday, Maryland used a big second half to overcome a
13-point deficit against Princeton in the tournament opener. The
Terrapins employed the same formula against Connecticut, even
though they never trailed after the opening two minutes.
"That's obviously one of the best teams in the country,"
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "They're tough to beat because
of their size and because they shoot the ball well, but I was most
impressed by the way they played so well with each other. Maryland
gave our kids a good lesson on how to play team basketball."
Caron Butler scored 20 points for the Huskies (3-1), now 10-10
under Calhoun against top-five teams.
After Baxter scored on an alley-oop pass from Steve Blake to put
Maryland up 46-38, Holden hit two consecutive jumpers and Baxter
followed with a layup to put Maryland up by 14.
UConn closed to 60-53, but after Dixon scored in the lane and
Baxter added two free throws, the Huskies never got closer than
nine points.
"Right now I think we're just playing 33 minutes of basketball
where we need to be at 40 minutes," Maryland forward Byron Mouton
said. "We have spurts, but we also get unfocused and have mental
lapses."
Dixon went 2-for-13 from the field in the first half and
finished 5-for-18.
"I struggled this tournament but I'll go home and get in the
gym," Dixon said. "Hopefully the next game I'll have a better
percentage. You're not going to have a good shooting day every
day."
Holden scored 15 points, and Blake had eight points and nine
assists.
UConn missed its first seven shots and had five turnovers in the
opening five minutes, but Butler scored 12 points to bring the
Huskies to 36-34 at halftime.
After the Huskies made two foul shots off the opening tip,
Baxter scored seven consecutive points during an 11-0 run. Dixon
capped the surge with two free throws following a technical foul
called against Calhoun.
"We just weren't ready to play. You can't start like that and
expect to win," Huskies forward Johnnie Selvie said. "We let
Baxter get off to a good start, and when that happens, he'll hurt
you."
But the Huskies came back from a 21-7 hole in a hurry, getting
five points from Butler in a 13-0 burst over a four-minute span. | 
