Syracuse, N.Y. ? The first time Maryland and Connecticut met this season they were very different from each other.

Maryland had three senior starters back from its first Final Four appearance. Connecticut used two sophomores and two freshmen as it tried to rebound from a season that ended with a second-round loss in the NIT.

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun smiles during Saturday's news conference. His Huskies will take on Maryland in today's NCAA East Regional championship at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., for the chance to advance to the Final Four.

Experience prevailed on Dec. 3 in the MCI Center, with Maryland winning 77-65 in the championship game of the BB&T Classic.

When the Terrapins and Huskies meet today in the Carrier Dome, they again will be very different teams and the stakes will be much higher: the East Regional championship and a berth in next weekend’s Final Four in Atlanta.

The Huskies “are a lot more confident than the team we played and they have a lot more wins,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said Saturday. “We’re a better team, too.”

After that meeting back in December, Maryland was 6-1 and ranked No. 3 in the nation. Connecticut was 3-1 and not even considered the third-best team in the Big East.

Connecticut forward Caron Butler said then that even though Maryland was a Final Four-caliber team the loss left a bad taste in his mouth and he wanted another shot at the Terrapins.

“I mean I’m not a psychic but it’s good we get a chance to redeem ourselves,” Butler said Saturday when reminded of his comments 31/2 months ago.

“This was what we wanted and we got what we asked for in a great situation with an opportunity to show how much we grew.”

Top-seeded Maryland (29-4) has won 16 of its last 17 games, the latest being the 78-68 victory over Kentucky in the regional semifinals that left the Terrapins as the only team with a chance to return to the Final Four.

Second-seeded Connecticut (27-6) has won 12 in a row, including the 71-59 win over Southern Illinois on Friday.

“The kids know, and I certainly know, we have a heck of a team we have to play but we’re bringing along, I think, a very good basketball team that since the last time we played them has added 20 more games’ experience,” Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said.

Maryland has the experience of getting this far in the NCAA Tournament in 2001, when it beat Stanford in the West Regional final. The Terps then lost to Duke in the national semifinals.

“Last year was new for everybody, and we were just so excited being there, a bunch of young guys,” Maryland senior Byron Mouton said. “This year we have a lot more maturity and our ultimate goal is to win the national championship and we’re going to have go through Connecticut.”

While All-American Juan Dixon has been the offensive leader for the Terrapins during the NCAA Tournament averaging 25.6 points Mouton has been the defensive key.

“There’s no rest,” Mouton said of his next assignment, Butler, who leads the Huskies at 20 points per game and has scored 74 points in the tournament.

Connecticut has its own defensive stopper in shot-blocking freshman center Emeka Okafor. When these teams first met he came into the game with a total of nine blocks, and five of those were against New Hampshire. He heads into today’s game averaging 4.5 blocks.

Both coaches will show their teams the tape of that December game. Both will tell their players how much better they are than they were then. Both will make sure they players know that what’s at stake is what’s most important.

“We have an opportunity to do something very special,” Calhoun said. “We’ve done some great things this year and I’m really proud of this team, but now that we’re here let’s try to get to Atlanta.”