Norfolk State Norfolk St/Maryland Maryland Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Baxter did the rest, scoring a career-high 32 points on 12-for-14 shooting Saturday as the Terrapins (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP) routed Norfolk State 123-79 and extended their nonconference home winning streak to 74 games.


	Maryland's Byron Mouton dunks in the Terrapins' 44-point win over Norfolk State.

Baxter scored on dunks, follow-shots and layups. He even hit a 3-pointer, only the third of his career, during a torrid second-half run when he scored 17 points in a six-minute span.

"They were feeding me," said Baxter, a 6-foot-8 junior center, whose rare 3 gave Maryland an 84-42 lead.

"I was just wide open. Nobody played me and I just shot it," he said. "We had a big lead and we had nothing to lose."

Juan Dixon had a season-high 26 points for the Terrapins (7-3), whose six-game winning streak is their longest since a seven-game run in 1999.

But Baxter was the story. He made his first seven field goal attempts, went 7-for-10 at the line and had seven rebounds before sitting out the final nine minutes.

"We were able to get the ball to Lonny, and he finished," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "He was great, and our players did a great job helping him get the basketball."

Baxter's previous career high was 31 points, set last season against North Carolina State.

Darrel Neal scored a season-high 15 for the Spartans (2-6), who committed 24 turnovers and had no answer for Baxter in the middle.

"It's just size," Norfolk State coach Wil Jones said. "What did Lonny do but run to the post and they passed the ball to him? I told them point blank, 'Beat Lonny to the post.' The only difference is that they throw the ball to him."'

Dixon made 12 of 17 field goal attempts, but fell four points short of giving Maryland two 30-point scorers in a single game for the first time.

The Terrapins' nonconference home winning streak, which began in 1989, is the longest in the nation. Maryland has won 10 straight overall at home and is 44-4 since the start of the 1997-98 season.

The 123 points in a game was the sixth-most in school history.

Despite going 0-for-6 from 3-point range, the Terrapins shot 56 percent and got points from nine players in taking a 58-32 halftime lead. Maryland outrebounded the Spartans 25-10, outscored them at the line 14-5 and forced 14 turnovers.

After Norfolk State scored the opening basket, Maryland quickly took control with an 18-2 run that included four points by Dixon and a three-point play by Mike Mardesich off a snazzy no-look pass from Terence Morris.

Maryland made 10 of its first 13 shots, and after Dixon hit successive jumpers to make it 28-9, he had more points (10) than Norfolk State.

It was 41-21 before Dixon made a layup and Baxter scored on a dunk and a follow to spark an 8-0 run that put the Terrapins up by 28.

Morris had four blocked shots and has 201 for his career, making his only the 16th player in Atlantic Coast Conference history with at least 200 blocks.

ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Norfolk State Clubhouse

Maryland Clubhouse