COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Two weeks after the end of final exams, men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski had one crucial question left to answer. Could the Blue Devils still dominate ranked teams after the loss of leading scorer and rebounder Elton Brand?
And on Jan. 3 against then-No. 20 Maryland, the coach and the team clearly passed the test.
At Cole Field House, where Duke (14-1, 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost two out of their last three contests, the Blue Devils handed the Terps their worst home loss in 29 seasons. Opening with four straight three-pointers, Duke cruised to a 104-72 win, its largest margin of victory on the road since 1988.
"I have to be extremely pleased for my team," Krzyzewski said. "We had a very hot shooting night and we did something we didn't do at Michigan-we held our poise in the second half."
Freshman Chris Burgess started at center for Brand against the Terps, and freshman Shane Battier and junior Taymon Domzalski came off the bench to fill the void left by Brand. In 10 minutes of play, Domzalski contributed two offensive rebounds and a block.
"That's the best Taymon's played at Duke," Krzyzewski said. "He really made some big plays for us."
Duke clearly was not rattled by the 81-73 upset loss to the Wolverines in its 126-64 pounding of Mercer, the first game during Winter Break. The game also marked the return of senior Ricky Price, who was under academic suspension during the first semester. Price played 15 minutes, contributing 10 points.
It was after the Blue Devils returned from their Christmas holiday that their roster numbers began to dwindle. On Dec. 27 in their second practice after returning to school, Brand broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot.
Before the injury, Brand, the preseason ACC Rookie of the Year, was leading Duke with 16 points per game and seven rebounds per game. In addition to those two statistical categories, he was among the top 10 in the ACC in steals, field goal percentage and blocked shots.
"I feel bad for Elton. He was having as good a year as any freshman that has ever played for me," Krzyzewski said. "I've never had a player have as big an impact as Elton's had in such a short time period. It's frustrating to not be able to see him continue such an outstanding start to the season."
The Blue Devils next casualty came after their 89-39 victory over Portland State. On Jan. 2, James announced that he would forego the rest of the season to heal a severe high ankle sprain. He plans to apply for a medical redshirt to retain his sophomore year of eligibility.
Because Brand has played over the maximum number of minutes, he is unable to apply for medical hardship.
"Nate James is a heck of a basketball player," Krzyzewski said. "It's ironic that both times he has gotten hurt he was ready to start the next game.... The high ankle sprain just makes it impossible to get any kind of push or explosion."
The game against the Terrapins would have been a homecoming for James, a Washington D.C. native.
Maryland was the first in a series of conference games and although the Blue Devils preserved their undefeated conference record, they were not nearly as dominating.
Against N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke, sporting a newly-acquired No. 2 Associated Press ranking, struggled to 64-50 win over a feisty Wolfpack squad (see story, pg. 30).
The Blue Devils faced an even-tougher team when they traveled to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on then-No. 13 Florida State. This time, it was senior Roshown McLeod whose heroics kept Duke out of the loss column. McLeod's career-high 25 points boosted the Blue Devils past the Seminoles 75-63.
Although Duke had a solid 41-31 lead at the half, Florida State closed the gap considerably in the second half. Thanks to the Blue Devils' 28.1-percent field goal percentage in the half, the Seminoles pulled within one point midway through the half and within three points with under five minutes left in the game, but Duke escaped with the win.
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