14. John Gilchrist takes over to lead Maryland to the 2004 ACC Tournament Championship
Head coach Gary Williams and the Terps arrived in Greensboro, N.C. as the No. 6 seed and needing at least a win or two to likely secure an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament and instead provided three of the most exciting days in the history of Maryland basketball.
Point guard and tournament MVP John Gilchrist seemingly put the Terps on his back — scoring 72 points over the three games — as they knocked off No. 3 seed Wake Forest, No. 2 seed North Carolina State, and top-seeded Duke to give Williams his first and only ACC Tournament title. In the championship game, Maryland trailed Duke by 10 with under three minutes to play in regulation before a furious comeback forced overtime. The Terps wouldn’t be denied as they won 95-87 behind Gilchrist’s 26 points.
Maryland not only punched its ticket to the Big Dance with an automatic berth but denied the Blue Devils a sixth consecutive ACC Tournament championship, which may have brought just as much satisfaction to Terps fans.
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