COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The offense was struggling to put up points, a once-commanding lead had been whittled to three late in the game, and the hostile Maryland crowd--the self-dubbed Red Army--had finally found reason to explode. It was a recipe for disaster that had done in the Blue Devils in recent years. But good teams find ways to win, and despite their offensive struggles in the second half, the Blue Devils scratched, clawed, and held on for dear life to emerge from College Park unscathed for the first time in three years.
"I think we showed a lot of maturity today," senior point guard Chris Duhon said. "We were able to withstand their runs, and we didn't quit. We kept fighting."
Duke's second-half struggles began when Maryland clamped down on Shelden Williams in the paint and kept J.J. Redick from getting free on the perimeter. With their primary inside-outside threats shut down, the Blue Devils had difficulty finding open looks, and Maryland slowly chipped away at the lead.
"When you're seeing triple-teams, and people being physical and kind of getting you out of the game a little bit, it is frustrating," Williams said.
Nonetheless, every time the Terrapins were on the verge of taking control, the Blue Devils responded.
"I think we have the poise now to not panic in tough situations," Duhon said. "We made some big plays down the stretch. It was really physical, but we just needed to play through it and keep attacking, and we just [barely] held them off."
Want to know what makes this year's Duke squad different from the past few incarnations? In recent years, if the shots weren't falling, the Blue Devils were done for--especially against tough foes on the road. But defense and rebounding don't take a night off, and whereas in past years Duke has been routinely dominated on the glass and in the paint, Duke beat Maryland Wednesday night largely because of its 49-34 edge on the boards and its astounding 24 offensive rebounds. What had been a liability is now a prolific strength.
It also doesn't hurt to have a veteran point guard finally playing up to his potential and taking charge of this relatively young team. While Redick earned the headlines with a phenomenal 26-point performance, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski knows his team would never have stood a chance without Duhon.
"Chris was huge for us," Krzyzewski said. "I told him in the locker room at halftime, 'If I put up the word determination, I'd put your picture right next to it.' You'll hear about J.J., but we wouldn't have won without Chris."
Senior leadership, inside toughness, the ability to grit out wins when the shots aren't falling--those are the intangibles that win teams championships, and those are the intangibles that allowed the Blue Devils to escape College Park with their 12th consecutive win.
"It was a big test for our team tonight, especially with the way we played up here last year," junior Daniel Ewing said. "We answered their runs with great defense and execution on offense and we were able to get a good win against a tough team."
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