COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference regular season is over -- almost.
The second-ranked Blue Devils guaranteed themselves sole possession of the ACC regular season championship with a 73-69 victory over Maryland in a hostile Cole Field House Wednesday night.
No. 5 North Carolina blew its chance to fight Duke (22-3, 12-3 in the ACC) Saturday in Cameron Indoor Stadium for a share of the ACC crown with a 68-61 loss at the hands of Wake Forest last night in Winston-Salem.
"We're so happy," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Coming into the year, I could not foresee us accomplishing what we've accomplished thus far. I'm very happy for our seniors because I feel they deserve the most credit."
Duke was playing for the conference title, but Maryland (15-10, 7-8) had just as much on the line in this game. The Terps entered the contest 7-7 in the conference and needed a strong ACC finish to solidify a possible NCAA Tournament bid.
The Blue Devils found themselves on the defensive from the very onset as the Cole Field House crowd pelted the Duke bench with balls of newspaper before the opening tip.
"We walked out there and it seemed like there was no student section," junior Cherokee Parks said. "The whole stadium was like a student stadium. They were harsh, they were verbal, and they used some profanity. It was a good environment, though."
On the floor, the young Maryland squad hung with the Blue Devils by slashing to the basket for high percentage shots. Tight officiating combined with hard-nosed aggressiveness by both teams led to foul trouble for both sides. Senior Grant Hill was whistled for his second less than five minutes into the game, and Marty Clark had to sit most of the last eight minutes of the half with three. Four Terrapins ended the half with two fouls.
But the foul trouble didn't seem to phase the Blue Devils. Six first-half lead changes probably helped keep the Duke players focused on the game. Maryland's stand-out freshman Joe Smith was also a concern.
After being virtually shut down in the Terps' loss to Duke in Cameron earlier this season, Smith made his presence felt with nine first-half rebounds and eight points.
"Joe's a great player, and it's scary how good he's going to be when he gets more experience," said senior Antonio Lang, who shared some of the responsibility for trying to contain Smith inside.
Maryland complemented its inside attack with 4-for-6 shooting from behind the three-point stripe in the first half. But Duke's Hill, playing with a row of stitches under his left eye, seemed to have an answer for everything.
"He has great senior leadership," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "A player like Hill gives [his] team confidence. He's done it all."
Hill managed to get every Blue Devil involved offensively as he dished out eight assists. Although he didn't score his first basket from the field until almost 15 minutes had expired, his clutch free-throw shooting and thunderous slam off a fast break with four minutes left in the half sparked the Duke players.
"Grant helped us keep our poise," Krzyzewski said. "What a beautiful player... I'm still trying to work on the play where he can pass to himself."
The Blue Devils ended the first stanza with a three-point lead which they never relinquished.
Duke looked like it might open the game wide open early in the second half. It rebounded from a meager 40 percent shooting performance in the first half to 56 percent in the second. The Blue Devils pelted Maryland with outside jumpers to start the half and then used a pair of inside baskets, including an Erik Meek jam, to build a nine-point lead with 13 minutes to play.
The young Terrapins, however, with three freshmen and two sophomores accounting for all but 11 of the team's 69 points, fought and scratched at the Duke lead.
"Maryland has big-time players," Krzyzewski said. "I am very impressed with Maryland. They certainly deserve a bid [to the NCAAs]."
But that's when Hill stepped up for the Blue Devils once again, fighting off the Maryland surge. The senior co-captain torched the Terps for nine of Duke's next 11 points over a seven-minute stretch to finish with 19 on the game.
Maryland managed to edge its way back into the game and trailed by just three after Duane Simpkins drained a three-pointer with 3:23 left in the contest.
Duke's experience, however, really showed down the stretch as near-perfect execution yielded three layups in the closing minutes to thwart any chance of a Maryland upset victory.
"It was a good win for us," sophomore Chris Collins said. "Especially in this environment and this atmosphere."
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