Maryland: 99 / Duke: 92 OT
SWEEPING THE DUKIES … HOW SWEET IT IS!
The Terps were incredible in the first half… committing just 1 turnover… to lead by 5 at the intermission. As always they played tough D on Redick and Gilchrist was phenomenal. Both teams shot the ball much better than in their first game. Garrison made some nice jump shots as well to shake off the doldrums from earlier in the week.
The second half was a different story with the Blue Devils stepping up their defensive intensity and Maryland having trouble getting into any kind of offensive rhythm. Gary Williams made a mistake not bringing Mike Jones into the game earlier… but he looked like a genius with his timing when Jones brought the Terps back with a vital eight point burst. As the Duke frontcourt players started fouling out, I thought we should have tried to flash Jones into the paint to receive a bounce pass where he could make some moves and do some damage.
We were fortunate to escape with some bad shot selection and the usual forced play by Nic Caner-Medley when he is not finding himself open. Gilchrist must have run out of gas in the second half… he looked like a completely different player… not looking for his shot at all. Overall, our free shooting percentage is going to look great because of McCray’s work at the end… but we actually missed some critical attempts in that second half.
Ibekwe gave us some tough minutes when you figure he was still questionable at game time with his bruised ribs. McCray showed his leadership with his usual unheralded defensive play and then canning all of the clutch free throws in overtime. Redick must have run out of petrol as well… making a number of uncharacteristic bonehead plays in the extra period.
This was a great opportunity for the Maryland fans to redeem themselves on national TV after being exposed last year for some uncouth behavior. It was another Instant Classic in this rivalry that is fast approaching the level of the more historic North Carolina-Duke vintage.
You’d have to say that the Terps have now played themselves into the tournament… no backing in… that’s for sure… it’s quite an accomplishment to sweep Dukies.
Related posts:
