Long before the first dunk of Midnight Madness, Maryland fans were expecting a storybook season for their men's basketball team, a proud program that has never found its way into the Final Four. Duke knows the route well, and the Terrapin faithful hyped the teams' two matchups as a chance for Maryland to prove it belongs among college basketball's elite.
So far, though, the story line has gone horribly awry for the Terps. On Jan. 3 in College Park, everything was there except the happy ending-the Blue Devils blew away their hosts in the second half for another lopsided win. And the plot of tonight's game was derailed before the opening tip when Wake Forest shocked then fourth-ranked Maryland Sunday in Winston-Salem.
Now what was a battle with No. 2 Duke (21-1, 9-0 in the ACC) for first place in the conference has become a battle with North Carolina for second, as the sixth-ranked Terps (19-3, 7-2) invade Cameron Indoor Stadium at 9 p.m. hoping to avoid their first two-game losing streak in almost a year.
"We know they're fuming," Shane Battier said. "We went up there in January and beat them on their home court, and you know you're not going to catch them sleeping two games in a row."
The contest gained added significance for the Blue Devils last night after a depleted Connecticut squad lost to Syracuse. Wins over Maryland tonight and Georgia Tech this weekend would give Duke the No. 1 ranking in the country and the inside track to the top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils have won their last four games against the Terps, each loss seemingly more excruciating for Maryland players and fans. A month ago, Maryland erased those painful memories-for a half. The two teams were tied 37-37 at intermission, the Terps had bounced back from several Duke spurts and highly regarded junior college transfer Steve Francis was breaking down the Blue Devil defense.
By the time the squads returned from the locker room, however, they had reprised their customary roles. Duke made Maryland set up its halfcourt offense, Chris Carrawell held Francis to zero second-half buckets and the Blue Devils opened the half with a 15-2 run that left the Terps flustered and broken.
The Carrawell-Francis matchup promises to be the most intriguing of tonight's contest. The Maryland junior reportedly has had a picture of Carrawell taped to his locker since the loss, and not because he admires the forward's defensive prowess.
"He's a great player, and he's going to be ready to play against me," the Duke junior said. "I know he doesn't feel like he got shut down, but he did. He's going to look to go off on me [tonight]. I know that, so definitely I will be watching more tape... and probably run a few extra laps in practice or something.
"It's definitely going to be one of those games where he remembers that, and any time a great player remembers what you did against him-and he's a competitor-I know he's going to be definitely looking to drill me."
Carrawell will look to keep Francis and his many offensive moves in front of him tonight, he said. The speedy guard will get by him at some point, Carrawell added, but he will still have to deal with the Blue Devils' big men. Center Elton Brand has backed up more than a few teammates on defense recently, blocking 21 shots in his last five games.
The key for Duke will once again be shutting down Maryland's explosive fullcourt game by taking care of the ball and the boards. The Demon Deacons did that successfully Sunday and held the Terps to 36-percent shooting. After Saturday's win over N.C. State, coach Mike Krzyzewski said that the difference between the Blue Devils of today and the Blue Devils of a year ago is their ability to execute a half-court offense. Maryland has yet to show it can do that consistently, and Duke hopes to once again take advantage.
"That's what separates the good teams from the great teams in this conference-the ability to execute offensively and defensively," Battier said. "The second time around it's easier to prepare for teams, and it comes down to execution."
A hot-shooting Trajan Langdon would make executing their half-court offense easier for the Blue Devils. Langdon scored 16 points versus the Terps in College Park but has hit only 35 percent of his three-point attempts in his last five outings. The senior guarded Francis in the first half last month before ceding to Carrawell, while the Maryland star chased Langdon for much of the game.
"I think that may have been a factor [in Francis' second-half performance]," Langdon said. "When I know I have the opponent's best player on me I try to run him around and take his legs from him."
The Duke guard did knock down key treys against UNC and N.C. State and downplayed talk of his "slump." As long as the Blue Devils are winning and he's contributing, Langdon said, he won't worry about his shooting numbers.
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