SYRACUSE, N.Y., March 21 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Maryland faces a tremendous challenge Friday night when it meets No. 4 Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal clash of heavyweights.
Maryland (28-4) is in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five seasons. The Terrapins, top seeded for the first time in school history, has advanced with easy victories over Siena and Wisconsin.
Taking advantage of a partisan crowd in Washington, the Terrapins rolled to an 87-57 rout of Wisconsin on Sunday. Juan Dixon scored 29 points for the second straight game and became the school's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Len Bias.
Chris Wilcox added 18 points and Lonny Baxter added 16 for Maryland, which has won 15 of its last 16 games. The Terrapins can set a new school record for victories by defeating Kentucky.
Dixon, who is averaging 19.9 points and 4.7 rebounds, was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's player of the year. Dixon is the winningest player in Maryland's history, having participated in 106 victories.
Kentucky (22-9) had an up-and-down regular season that included a listless loss to South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tourney. But the Wildcats have bounced back to defeat Valparaiso and Tulsa to advance to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 41 points on Saturday as the Wildcats edged the Golden Hurricane. In one of the great NCAA Tournament performances in Kentucky's illustrious history, Prince made 14 of 21 shots and hit six three-pointers.
Keith Bogans, Kentucky's leading scorer a year ago, has bounced back from a poor season by averaging 20 points in the first two rounds. Bogans shot an encouraging 60 percent from beyond the arc after connecting on just 32 percent of his attempts during the season.
Kentucky coach Tubby Smith owns a 20-7 record in the NCAA Tournament, including a 14-3 mark with the Wildcats. Smith, a Maryland native, owns the fifth-best winning percentage in tournament play among active coaches.
The Wildcats are 27-9 all time in regional semifinal play, with last season's loss to Southern California ending an eight-game winning streak.
Maryland owns a 2-0 all-time record in the Carrier Dome, defeating Wagner and Syracuse here in 1980. Kentucky is 0-2 here, losing to Syracuse in 1989 and 1994.
