Maryland rolls past Indiana for title.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

ATLANTA _ The first time can be a little awkward. Maryland knows this well, for the Terrapins had anything but sure footing Monday when they took their first step onto the national championship stage.

Nevertheless, the top-seeded Terps played a much steadier game than Indiana. At least in the last eight minutes. And that's what earned them a 64-52 win at the packed-solid Georgia Dome and the first NCAA title in school history.

Maryland (32-4), the only returning team from last year's Final Four, lost to Duke in the 2001 semifinals.

This time, the Terrapins used a 17-3 run during the final eight minutes to hold off the sluggish Hoosiers. Indiana failed to score between 4:15, when Kyle Hornsby's 3-pointer cut the score to 53-49, and the end of the game.

Senior tri-captain Lonny Baxter, almost a non-factor against Kansas in the semifinals, scored nine of his 15 points in the second half. He had a monster dunk with 7:18 left that extended Maryland's lead from 49-46 and seemed to take the wind out of Indiana's sails.

Terps guard Juan Dixon, the ACC Player of the Year and the tournament's MVP, scored a game-high 18 points in his final college game.

The 3-pointer, Indiana's chief weapon throughout much of the tournament, nearly ruined Maryland's night. The Hoosiers hit three triples in the second half to make up for rampant turnovers and an uncharacteristically poor performance by star forward Jared Jeffries (8 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 4 turnovers).