An Indiana team straight out of the movie "Hoosiers" versus a physical No. 1 seed playing for a first national title made for an interesting Men's Final Four championship game in Atlanta's Georgia Dome April 1.

Indiana, dubbed the tournament's Cinderella despite having been unbeaten in five previous championship-game appearances, gave the favored Terrapins fits for a while before Maryland garnered its first crown with a 64-52 decision.

Maryland's Juan Dixon, named the tournament's most outstanding player, hit six of nine shots, including his first four, and scored 18 points. Dixon, who was the catalyst in Maryland's 97-88 semifinal win over top-seeded Kansas, was clutch again in the championship game, hitting a three-pointer after Indiana had rallied to take the lead with about nine minutes to play. The Hoosiers, looking to be the first No. 5 seed to win it all, could not recover from the Dixon dagger.

The Terrapins' road to the Final Four included twists and turns through five national championship programs -- Wisconsin, Kentucky, Connecticut, Kansas and Indiana. That was a Final Four first. So was the fact that Maryland's first five tournament games were against the highest possible seeds.

But Indiana may have pulled the biggest surprise along their tournament trek, upsetting Duke in the Sweet 16 and then Oklahoma in the semifinals to advance to the program's sixth championship game.

After a turnover-plagued start for both teams, the Terrapins used a Dixon steal and layup to gain their largest lead at 19-8. Ryan Randle maintained the 11-point margin with a basket at the 1:42 mark, but Indiana showed it would not be blown out as Tom Coverdale's buzzer beater culminated a 7-2 half-ending Hoosier run.

As Indiana did against Oklahoma, the Hoosiers rallied in the second half to gain the lead, though against Maryland, the edge was short lived. Jared Jeffries' basket put Indiana up, 44-42, but then Dixon hit from downtown.

"Juan has never backed down from a big shot," Maryland head coach Gary Williams said of his senior guard. "You can't have the fear of failure."

Maryland pulled away steadily after that, mostly from the foul line. The Terrapins were 20 of 28 for the game, compared to Indiana's 2 of 7, which was an all-time low for charities made in a tournament game.

Lonny Baxter dunked and Tahj Holden made two free throws to top off the 11-2 run that sealed the victory with just over five minutes remaining. The Terrapins held the Hoosiers to only one basket in a five-minute period.

Baxter, with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Chris Wilcox, with 10 points and seven boards, helped shut down the Hoosiers' offense.

Both Baxter and Dixon played their last game for Maryland as seniors whose numbers have been retired.

"It's been an amazing thing to watch Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter over the last four years," Williams said. "These guys got to the level of two of the best players in the country."

Jeffries, who had been Indiana's leading scorer, was held to eight points and seven rebounds. "They were definitely physical down low," the sophomore post player said.

Maryland also won the battle of the boards, collecting 42 rebounds to Indiana's 31.

Kyle Hornsby led Indiana with 14 points, followed by Dane Fife with 11.

"I thought we fought hard," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "It was a great game down the stretch. We had trouble making our shots because Maryland did a great job of taking away our open three-point shots."

Davis, in his second season, led the Hoosiers to the Final Four for the first time in a decade.

Maryland head coach Gary Williams, who also has taken Boston College and Ohio State to tournament berths, became the first alumnus to coach his alma mater to a national title since Norm Sloan at North Carolina State in 1974.

Dixon, Baxter and Wilcox made the all-tournament team, along with Indiana's Fife and Hornsby.

SEMIFINALS

Indiana 73, Oklahoma 64

Indiana: Jared Jeffries 2-5, 3-4, 8, 8; A.J. Moye 4-6, 0-0, 3, 9; Tom Coverdale 1-5, 0-1, 4, 3; George Leach 1-1, 1-3, 2, 3; Dane Fife 1-4, 0-0, 1, 3; Donald Perry 2-3, 5-6, 4, 10; Kyle Hornsby 2-4, 1-2, 2, 7; Jarrad Odle 5-10, 0-0, 1, 11; Jeff Newton 7-10, 5-8, 6, 19. TOTALS: 25-48, 15-24, 32 (1 team), 73.

Oklahoma: Ebi Ere 7-12, 0-0, 5, 15; Quannas White 0-5, 0-0, 1, 0; Jason Detrick 1-6, 4-4, 3, 6; Hollis Price 1-11, 3-4, 3, 6; Blake Johnston 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Aaron McGhee 8-15, 6-7, 8, 22; Jabahri Brown 4-5, 1-2, 6, 9; Daryan Selvy 2-10, 0-1, 8, 4; Jozsef Szendrei 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0. TOTALS: 24-66, 14-18, 40 (4 team), 64.

Halftime: Oklahoma 34, Indiana 30. Three-point field goals: Indiana 8-13 (Jeffries 1-1, Moye 1-1, Coverdale 1-3, Fife 1-2, Perry 1-1, Hornsby 2-4, Odle 1-1; Oklahoma 2-18 (Ere 1-5, White 0-1, Detrick 0-2, Price 1-7, McGhee 0-1, Selvy 0-2). Disqualifications: McGhee. Officials: David Libbey, Duke Edsall, Michael Kitts. Attendance: 53,378.

Maryland 97, Kansas 88

Kansas: Drew Gooden 5-12, 3-5, 9, 15; Brett Ballard 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Nick Collison 9-14, 3-4, 10, 21; Keith Langford 2-6, 4-8, 5, 8; Kirk Hinrich 4-8, 1-2, 4, 11; Aaron Miles 1-7, 10-12, 3, 12; Jeff Boschee 6-16, 0-0, 3, 17; Jeff Carey 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Wayne Simien 2-3, 0-0, 5, 4. TOTALS: 29-67, 21-31, 44 (5 team), 88.

Maryland: Byron Mouton 4-9, 4-4, 6, 12; Juan Dixon 10-18, 8-11, 3, 33; Drew Nicholas 2-9, 2-2, 2, 7; Steve Blake 1-7, 5-9, 3, 8; Ryan Randle 1-3, 0-1, 2, 2; Lonny Baxter 2-4, 0-0, 7, 4; Tahj Holden 4-5, 5-5, 5, 13; Chris Wilcox 8-15, 2-3, 9, 18. TOTALS: 32-70, 26-35, 40 (3 team), 97.

Halftime: Maryland 44, Kansas 37. Three-point field goals: Kansas 9-23 (Gooden 2-2, Langford 0-1, Hinrich 2-3, Miles 0-4, Boschee 5-13); Maryland 7-21 (Dixon 5-11, Nicholas 1-5, Blake 1-4, Holden 0-1). Disqualifications: Hinrich. Officials: Ed Corbett, Ed Hightower, Tim Higgins. Attendance: 53,378.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Maryland 64, Indiana 52

Indiana: Jared Jeffries 4-11, 0-1, 7, 8; A.J. Moye 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Tom Coverdale 3-11, 0-0, 4, 8; George Leach 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Dane Fife 4-9, 0-0, 5, 11; Donald Perry 1-3, 0-0, 1, 3; Kyle Hornsby 5-12, 0-1, 5, 14; Jarrad Odle 0-4, 0-3, 4, 0; Jeff Newton 2-7, 2-2, 5, 6. TOTALS: 20-58, 2-7, 31, 52.

Maryland: Byron Mouton 1-5, 2-2, 4, 4; Juan Dixon 6-9, 4-4, 5, 18; Drew Nicholas 1-2, 5-6, 3, 7; Steve Blake 2-6, 2-2, 6, 6; Ryan Randle 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Lonny Baxter 6-15, 3-8, 14, 15; Tahj Holden 0-2, 2-2, 3, 2; Chris Wilcox 4-8, 2-4, 7, 10. TOTALS: 21-48, 20-28, 42, 64.

Halftime: Maryland 31, Indiana 25. Three-point field goals: Indiana 10-23 (Jeffries 0-1, Coverdale 2-7, Fife 3-6, Perry 1-1, Hornsby 4-8); Maryland 2-9 (Dixon 2-4, Nicholas 0-1, Blake 0-3, Holden 0-1). Disqualifications: none. Officials: Dick Cartmell, Jim Burr, Tony Greene. Attendance: 53,406.