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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- About the only thing that didn't go
according to plan was the net-cutting ceremony.
Long after No. 2 Maryland ended its 47-year stay at storied Cole
Field House with a 112-92 rout of Virginia on Sunday night, each
player climbed a ladder to cut down the net in front of the
Terrapins' bench.
|  | | Maryland senior Byron Mouton reacts after being fouled in his final home game with the Terps. |
Juan Dixon sliced off the last cord, then realized that coach
Gary Williams was still behind him. So Dixon knotted the severed
cord to the rim, and Williams ended the emotional night with one
last snip.
Williams had no complaints, though, because Maryland finished
15-0 at home and concluded the best regular season in school
history with a runaway victory.
"This is the way it's supposed to be," Williams said.
"Everyone got into the game, and the crowd was great."
Dixon scored 23 points, Chris Wilcox had 21 points and 11
rebounds and Lonny Baxter added 18 points for the Terrapins (25-3,
15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who will move across campus next
season into the new $101 million Comcast Center.
Williams, a Maryland alum, said his fondest memory of Cole was
"sitting in Section Q and passing two exams to get out of here."
Cole Field House will remain a place where students take exams
and receive their diplomas, but college basketball fans will
remember it as the site of many of the sport's most significant
games.
In the finale, the ACC champs took the lead for good midway
through the first half and cruised to their 12th straight win,
eclipsing the 22-3 regular-season record of the 1974-75 squad.
Baxter had six points and Dixon added five as Maryland opened
the second half with an 18-6 run to go up 61-42, leaving the
sellout crowd plenty of time to savor the atmosphere.
Chris Williams scored a season-high 28 points and Travis Watson
had 20 for Virginia (17-10, 7-9), which was coming off an 87-84
upset of No. 3 Duke. It was the sixth straight road loss for the
Cavaliers and their ninth successive defeat at Cole.
"They're a great team -- second-best in the country, maybe the
best in the country," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "Tonight,
they could beat most teams in the country."
Next season, Maryland will seek to win in a new venue. The
17,100-seat Comcast Center will offer many of the amenities that
Cole never had, such as air conditioning, luxury boxes and a replay
screen.
But Cole Field House will be remembered not for what it lacked,
but for what it offered: wonderful sight lines from every seat. It
was, quite simply, one of the best arenas in the country to watch a
college basketball game.
"It looks like this place could go another 10 years, although
it might not have all the accommodations they're looking for,"
former Maryland star Albert King said before the game. "But you
just can't beat the feeling of hearing those 14,500 people
cheering."
The gathering in the grand old building Sunday probably was
closer to 20,000, including dozens of alums. Buck Williams, Boomer
Esiason, Len Elmore, Tom McMillen and Jim O'Brien -- whose jumper
gave Maryland a dramatic 31-30 win over No. 2 South Carolina at
home in 1971 -- all showed up to absorb one final memory.
The Terrapins finished 486-151 at Cole, closing out their stay
the same way they started it -- with a win over Virginia. In the
first game at the arena, on Dec. 2, 1955, Maryland topped the
Cavaliers 67-55.
In between those two games, Cole played host to two Final Fours
and six NCAA regionals. It was the scene of one of the sport's most
noteworthy games, when an all-black Texas Western team beat
Kentucky 72-65 to win the 1966 NCAA championship and shatter the
color barrier in college basketball.
Before Sunday's game got under way, there was another
celebration: senior night, marking the final home game for Baxter,
Dixon, Byron Mouton and reserve Earl Badu.
"We wanted to go out with a win. It was an emotional night, a
terrific night," Dixon said. "Given what was going on tonight, we
really enjoyed it."
Virginia stunned the crowd by taking a 19-14 lead, but Mouton
scored seven points in a 25-5 run that put Maryland up by 14.
Undaunted, the Cavaliers closed to 43-36 at halftime behind
Williams, who scored eight points in a 12-4 spree.
But it was all Maryland in the second half. The only suspense
was who would score the final points at Cole; the honor went to
Maryland's Andre Collins, who hit a 3-pointer in the final second.
Steve Blake made the final ceremonial basket after the game,
dunking the ball after being hoisted by teammate Tahj Holden.
"We wanted to win this game to stay unbeaten at home," Blake
said. "We understood what we had to do to take care of business."
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