I'll be honest; I'm watching UConn-Marquette, so this might be a bit scattered. Apologies.
THE CONTENTS: No. 7 Duke looks to build on the momentum of Sunday's win when it takes on Maryland, who is in turn looking to build on the momentum of its Saturday win. You can see the 9 p.m. battle at the Comcast Center on ESPN with Mike Patrick and Jay Bilas and hear it on 620 AM.
THE EXPOSITION: The Blue Devils (22-5, 8-4) got an enormous win Sunday against Wake Forest, with Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer each recording career highs.
The Terrapins (17-9, 6-6) stunned the nation by coming from 16 down to knock off North Carolina Saturday, with Greivis Vasquez putting together the third triple-double in school history (35-11-10).
Duke defeated Maryland earlier this season, 85-44. It seems safe to say that this one will be a little closer.
THE PROTAGONISTS: All seems right in Durham following Sunday's 101-91 win over the Demon Deacons. Henderson and Scheyer finally had a big game at the same time, Elliot Williams became the best defender of inbounds passes since Havlicek (or Bird) and the whole point guard thing looked like a non-issue.
Interesting things to consider: (1) It was the fourth consecutive game Duke allowed the opponent to shoot over 54 percent. That probably has to change. (2) Last game against Maryland, the Blue Devils' interior dominated the Terrapins. Since then, Brian Zoubek and Co. haven't really been heard from (in Sunday, he wasn't heard from). Will Zoubek get much time tonight? (3) How does the new-look lineup play when the threes aren't dropping? (4) Can Duke win on the road, on a Wednesday?
THE ANTAGONISTS: Ahh, the cliched "one game changes everything." Maryland wasn't even on the bubble before Saturday's win; now the Terps are a second top-10 upset away from ensuring a Tourney berth. (That's just the perception. Believe me, a win tonight in no ways makes Maryland a lock. I still don't think BC is a lock.) And that whole Gary Williams fired thing? The job looks a whole lot more secure after you beat No. 3.
The big question surrounding the Terps is how a team can look so horrific at times and so great at others. It seems to me that Maryland has really taken on the identity of its leader, Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez is a particularly inconsistent player: He can have triple-doubles against UNC, he can score just four against Duke. The Terps are the same way: they can beat UNC, they can lose by 41 to Duke.
The other question emerging from that game: How in the world did Maryland contain North Carolina in the post? They couldn't contain Brian Zoubek! Honestly, I have no answer to this.
THE CONFLICT: Which team's weekend win was more anomalous? Will either team play as well as they did then? If so, they'll probably leave with a win.
WHERE'S THE BULLETIN BOARD?: Oh, Dave Neal. You of all people should not be talking trash after last month's contest (via the AP):
"They're extremely beatable," Maryland center Dave Neal declared. "They've shown that the past couple games. They got a big win against Wake Forest (101-91 on Sunday), but I think if we come out and execute our offense — which we didn't do last game — we have a better chance of winning."
WHAT THE LOCAL MEDIA ARE SAYING: From The Chronicle's Sabreena Merchant:
These aren't the same Terrapins that Duke wiped off the floor back in January in a 41-point rout that propelled the Blue Devils to a short-lived No. 1 ranking. Now, Greivis Vasquez, the ACC's player of the week, has his team back in the national conversation, as the junior's triple-double Saturday helped bring Maryland back from a 16-point deficit to defeat the Tar Heels."We are going to play a Maryland team again that was at their worst here, and they're at their best now," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
WHAT THE NATIONAL MEDIA ARE SAYING: From The Quad, the New York Times' blog:
Maybe Saturday’s upset of North Carolina will quiet some of the rumbling at Maryland, but there is a good chance it won’t.
MARYLAND'S GROWN MORE CIVIL THESE LAST FEW YEARS, HAVEN'T THEY?: Hardly.
WHY IS BILAS THE ANALYST, NOT ELMORE?: Because Elmore, a Maryland alum, did the last Duke-Maryland game with Patrick. Now it's the Duke alum's turn.
THAT'S GOOD NEWS, RIGHT?: Well, Patrick and Bilas did the Clemson game. Need I say more?
BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THERE'S OTHER ODD SUPERSTITIOUS STREAKS GOING ON HERE: And Duke has lost its last three conference road games and its last three contests on Wednesday nights.
AT LEAST THE NCAA TOURNAMENT DOESN'T TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAYS: Or on the road.
THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF THE NIGHT: Does Maryland stick with the yellow jerseys that helped it beat UNC? And how weird will Duke's uniforms look without the stuff on the back?
THE DENOUEMENT: I don't see either of these teams playing quite as well as they did over the weekend. We'll probably see more of Zoubek--and perhaps early--to test that interior of Maryland and examine whether the Blue Devils can dominate inside the same way they did in the first meeting. I doubt Zoubek will have the same success--it's awfully tough to turn on the confidence again--and that Duke will stick with the lineup we've seen the last few games. Defensively, this is a game where switching screens on the perimeter won't cause the kinds of mismatches that Maryland can exploit. Expect the Blue Devils to be more aggressive on the perimeter, to force some turnovers, and to finally hold a team under 50 percent shooting. Singler gets back on track offensively, and Duke keeps the momentum going at the expense of the not-quite-rivals.
THE VERDICT: Duke, 77-68.
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