DURHAM, N.C. - Maryland (16-7, 6-3) came into Saturday afternoon's game against Duke (21-4, 9-2) after six days rest, stomping all over defending champion North Carolina and being only a game behind the Blue Devils for tops in the ACC.

 

Eighth-ranked Duke was also coming off a win against North Carolina, on the road, and entering Saturday's contest Coach Mike Krzyzewski was looking to get a win on his milestone, 1,000th game after 30 years at Duke.

Despite boasting a larger presence inside, Duke did not appear to be that far ahead of Maryland, at least on paper.

Maryland's leading scorer Greivis Vasquez ranks third in the ACC in points per game and is surrounded by Duke players Jon Scheyer (2nd), Nolan Smith (5th) and Kyle Singler (7th).

Coaches Gary Williams and Mike Krzyzewski are third and second, respectively in all-time ACC wins and both teams had won six of their last seven games.

However, by the start of halftime, the world could see why Duke was ranked in the top ten and Maryland was not ranked at all as Duke dominated Maryland to the final of 77-56.

After tipping off in a sold out Cameron Indoor Stadium Maryland was able to get out to a 6-5 lead but even from the start the Terrapins appeared "off" and Duke appeared to be very much "on". The suspense of the game was spoiled rather early as the Duke defense ratcheted up to a level that Maryland did not have the skill to overcome.

Maryland began the game hitting on three of six shots from the field to grab its first and only lead of the game and when Duke came charging back to retake the lead the Terps fell apart.

Maryland missed its next four shots as it pressed to keep up with the Blue Devils and Duke's focused, attacking defense just exacerbated Maryland's impatience as turnovers and wild play just aided in the extension of Duke's lead.

Duke forced Maryland into a three-made field goal and six turnover downward spiral over the next six minutes.

Meanwhile, on offense, Duke was able to constantly go over the top of Maryland's undersized defense with alley-oops and lobs into the post for 36 consistent points in the paint or kick outs for wide open three-pointers like the three out of four Duke guard Scheyer hit in his game leading 22-point performance. Concurrently, Maryland who averages seven threes a game was 0 of 7 from three-point range as Duke took a 40-24 halftime lead (reminiscent of last year's 40-15 advantage).

Offensive troubles for Maryland began with suffocating Duke defense but were compounded with early wild play by Vasquez. On a number of plays in the early going, Vasquez, who was 1 of 5 from the field with two points and two turnovers in the first half, took rushed heavily contested shots outside of the offense that Maryland was never able to recover from.
He wasn't alone.

Improved sophomore guard Sean Mosley (2 of 6) missed consecutive wide open long field goal attempts and usually reliable seniors Eric Hayes (3 of 7) and Landon Milbourne (1of 6) were simply out of sync for most of the game showing intermittent signs of focus here and there but nothing near the mental fortitude needed to beat a team like Duke, and certainly not on the road. And with its leaders struggling the rest of the Terrapins succumbed to poor play as well. Players simply seemed unaware of their surroundings. Poor decisions like settling for contested shots while teammates were wide open for better, open shots; stolen passes off of unsecured catches and possessions; and head-down "bull-in-china-shop" dribbles in traffic seemed to comprise most of the Terrapins' offensive possessions.

The opening of the second half was a microcosm of the entire game for the Terps. Duke's Smith opened the period with a simple mid-ranged jumper as the Blue Devils ran a flawless play to open him up for the basket. Maryland followed the possession, on the other hand, with its tenth turnover and Duke converted on a Brian Zoubek's (16 points and 17 rebounds) tip in as the 7' center reached his 10th point and 10th rebound on the play as he was simply, not boxed out--on an offensive put back dunk--as he had not been boxed out for much of the game. The bucket made the score 44-24 and the deficit would remain in that range for much of the remainder of the game.

Maryland, which never seemed settled throughout the game, was out of timeouts with 13 minutes to go as Coach Williams tried anything and everything to get his team into the contest.

A short time later, Vasquez, who finished with 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting went on an 8-0 run of his own with two free throws, two fast break layups and Maryland's first three pointer of the game, prompting Coach Krzyzweski to call timeout. Maryland had gotten to within ten at that point. Duke ended the game on a 17-3 run that gave the Blue Devils its largest lead of 24 and closed out the Terps 77-56.

What suspense?

Maryland who averaged 77 points per game in conference play and was held to only 56 points against Duke will be back home at Comcast Center on Monday, February 15 to face number one in ACC scoring defense Virginia (14-7, 5-3) on a quick two-day turnaround because of the snowstorm that postponed last week's scheduled matchup.