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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) ― After helping Maryland to its first NCAA tournament berth in three years, senior D.J. Strawberry was keen on making sure the Terrapins' run wouldn't be a short one.

"This meant everything to us," Strawberry said, unhappy after the Terps settled for NIT berths the previous two seasons. "We've got our first game, and now we can go from there, continue to play well and enjoy the moment."

Strawberry did his part, producing an efficient 12-point, five-assist and eight-rebound outing in Maryland's first-round
82-70 win over Davidson on Thursday.

The Terps (25-8) advanced to the second round for the 20th time in school history. Seeded fourth in the Midwest region, Maryland will play No. 5 seed Butler on Saturday.

Strawberry had added incentive to keep winning. Should Maryland advance to the Midwest Regional in St. Louis next weekend, he'll have an opportunity to play in front of his father, former baseball slugger, Darryl Strawberry, who is working in an outreach program in Missouri.

The Terrapins outlasted the Wildcats in a game that featured 14 lead changes and wasn't determined until Davidson -- and particularly freshman guard Stephen Curry -- ran out of gas down the stretch.

Curry scored 30 points, but missed five of his final six attempts before fouling out with 21 seconds remaining. The Wildcats had no one else to pick up the slack, managing just one field goal -- Curry's transition layup -- in the final 5:51.

"I don't think it was anything about fatigue," Curry said. "It's just shots weren't falling and had loose balls go the other
way, just a couple of bad bounces here and there."

Curry was wearing down Strawberry, though. The Terps' top defender acknowledged having difficulty keeping his opponent in check.

"He was tiring me out just as much as I was tiring him out," Strawberry said. "He's a great player."

Like Strawberry, Curry also has a famous athletic father. He's the son of former NBA 3-point expert Dell Curry.

Mike Jones led Maryland with 17 points, and reserve forward Bambale Osby added 11, playing a key role in sparking an 11-4 run that put the Terps ahead 69-63 with 7:27 remaining.

Jason Richards, with 11 points, was the only Wildcats player to score double digits.

Davidson (29-5) had a 13-game win streak snapped and lost for only the second time in 27 games. The Wildcats also lost their seventh straight first-round game, their last tournament victory coming in 1969 when they beat St. John's 79-69 in the East semifinals.

The good news for the Wildcats, the Southern Conference champion, is they will have all of their starters back next season.

"We went toe-to-toe with arguably one of the better teams in the ACC," Wildcats coach Bob McKillop said. "For us to take this loss as anything more of how good we have developed and how much we can still grow, I think our guys clearly understand that there's some shortcomings we can work on, and I know they will."

The Terps, meanwhile, finally had a chance to answer critics after losing to Miami in the first round of the Atlantic Coast
Conference tournament.

"My message to them was to remind them why we came here. We came here to win," Maryland coach Gary Williams said, recalling what he told his team when it was down by eight early in the second half. "I'm proud of the toughness of these guys."

(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)