Page 12
Final Four triumph - yeah, Maryland!
Jacob Blom
STAFF WRITER
And now there is Juan ...
Senior Juan Dixon led the
University of Maryland to a 64-
52 victory over Indiana Univer
sity and its first men's basket
ball title. Maryland thus ended
any discussion that it may have
been the best program never to
win a national title.
The game was not pretty,
with a combined 32 turnovers.
But, it was a victory for Mary
land nonetheless.
Dixon, the ACC Player of the
Year, was also named the Most
Outstanding Player of the tour
nament while averaging 25.8
points per game. Although he
only scored 18 points in his fi
nal game, Dixon hit the biggest
shot of the game as he has a
knack for doing. Thirteen sec
onds after Indiana took its first
lead, Dixon sank a three from the
wing, making sure it was
Indiana's last.
Indiana failed to become the
first five seed to win the national
championship. On their road to
the Georgia Dome, Indiana had
been significant underdogs in
nearly every game it played.
They met the challenge by beat
ing heavily favored teams Duke
and Oklahoma.
Indiana defeated Oklahoma
in the semifinal 73-64 behind
Jeff Newton, who came off the
bench to score a career-high 19
points. Mike Davis, Indiana's
head coach, felt that his team
had a great shot at the title but
could not finish the game
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Maryland's Steve Blake pushes past Indiana's Jeff Newton.
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Juan Dixon tackles teammate Lonny Baxter after leading Maryland to victory on Monday night
strongly.
"We definitely felt like we
came up short, but hopefully
we'll be back again next year,"
said Indiana guard Tom
Coverdale.
"I think Indiana's basketball
future is still bright," Davis said.
Unfortunately for Indiana
fans, their fate was not bright
enough on Monday night. They
faced Maryland who, after a col
lapse against Duke in last year's
semifinals, was a team with a
mission. Early in August, Juan
Dixon predicted that Maryland
would win the national champi
onship.
Toward the end of last year,
he was looking into his clouded
crystal ball while many laughed
at him. Now, he seems like a
prophet. "I feel like I'm
dreaming right now,"
Dixon said.
Gary Williams, a
The Guilfordian
onship. John Wooden didn't lead
UCLA to their first championship
until his 17th season as head
coach.
Maryland became the first
team in NCAA history to beat five
national championship teams.
They beat Wisconsin, Kentucky,
the University of Connecticut,
Kansas, and finally Indiana. In
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April 5, 2002
the semifinals victory over Kan
sas, Dixon scored 33 points ty
ing his previous career-high.
Maryland was scoffed at
around the league for taking a
chance on the wiry six-foot,
three-inch, 160-pound Dixon.
Now, with the net hanging
around his neck, Dixon is hav
ing the last laugh.
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