Duke Dominates Maryland - Game Wrap Up

Duke has struggled with Maryland in the past several years. The Terps had beaten the Devils three straight times, and over the past six or seven or eight years, Maryland has beaten Duke more than twice as much as any other ACC team (although Duke has still won more than they have lost over that time to the Terps.) Duke has handed Maryland some painful losses, including the Final Four in 2001 when Maryland was ahead by 22 and lost by 11. The same year Duke had come back from a 10 point lead in the final 54 seconds to win in College Park. Bottom line is that this rivalry has been great over the past several years. Maryland just gets up for Duke probably better than any team in the country does for any other opponent. To stir the fire, their fans HATE Duke. I mean normally rational human beings just spew venom when the subject of Duke or Coach K comes up. Duke fans try to add fuel to the fire by ignoring Maryland. I do not recall a game between the two teams that was not hard fought and in which Maryland did not bring their 'A' game.

Last night, Duke demolished Maryland. It was close for about the first minute before Duke beat them worse than Ike Turner did to Tina. It was a bludgeoning. Maryland shot 30% from the field, and they had 6 assists while giving the ball away 29 times. Shelden Williams played perhaps the best game of his career, completely dominating on defense, and scoring inside at the offensive end. He finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks, for an unconventional triple-double. J.J. Redick had his usual 27 points, although he only shot 9-22 from the field. Duke was up by 23 points at halftime and had the lead into the 30s at times while coasting in the second half.

Believe me, it was fun watching Duke annihilate Maryland this way. It was sweet revenge for a sweep at their hands last year. It was fun to think about their fans in general hating Duke more the ever. In general, it was a good night. However, it is more fun to get Maryland's best effort, which we did not see last night. When Maryland elevates their game as they normally do against Duke, it forces Duke to take their game up a notch or go home with a loss. I thought that would have been a good challenge for this Duke team. I wanted to see how this young Duke team would respond when they were hit with a level of emotion they had not experienced hit them square in the face. That did not happen. It was too easy. That game did not benefit Duke's quest for a National title. If anything, it hurt us, as we risk overconfidence after so easily handling a team that has given us fits for so long.

Coach K better get these guys to circle February 11th on their calendars. Duke will be coming off an already emotional game against their biggest rival in UNC when they go to College Park on that night. Gary Williams is way too good of a coach, and those Maryland players have too much talent and pride to not show up with their 'A' game. And if they need any help, I would expect their fans to be riled up yelling all sorts of things to J.J. about his sister, mother and other family members. If Duke is not 100%ready to play, they will get a dose of what they dished out last night, and leave with a lopsided loss. If they come ready to play, it will be a war, and a great game.

So, I for one am hoping Maryland gets it back together, and comes with their 'A' game a month from now so we can have a classic, memorable battle instead of the slaughter we enjoyed last night. That way, it will be that much more fun when the Terp fans go home after getting their hearts ripped out by an emotional, hard fought Duke win in their house.