Just more than two weeks ago, Duke played what many deemed its most important game of the season against a surging Maryland team with the lead in the ACC standings hanging in the balance.
When the two rivals meet again tonight at 9 p.m. in College Park, the stakes will be the same. The venue, though, couldn’t be any more different.
This time, the No. 4 Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2 in the ACC) will carry their slim one-game conference lead over the No. 22 Terrapins (21-7, 11-3) into the hostile Comcast Center. Gone will be the raucous Cameron Crazies who cheered the team to a 77-56 victory over Maryland earlier this season in the celebration of head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,000th game; instead, that sea of blue will be replaced by a hostile red-clad crowd, sporting Scheyer faces and its definitive vulgar rhetoric.
A road victory will secure the ACC regular season title for Duke. A loss would leave a tie atop the standings heading into the season’s final weekend.
“We’re definitely ready for it,” junior Nolan Smith said following Duke’s victory Sunday night at Virginia. “We’re ready for the test.… There’s a lot at stake in this game coming up, and I’m ready.”
The Blue Devils are arguably playing their best basketball of the season as the calendar turns to March. The team is riding an eight-game winning streak that includes four straight road victories, as well as convincing home wins over both Maryland and fellow ACC contender Virginia Tech.
The same could be said, though, for the Terrapins, who have themselves won five straight since that loss in Cameron, including a double-overtime victory over the Hokies in Blacksburg Saturday night.
Maryland’s rush to the top of the ACC standings and into the Top 25 has been keyed, as expected, by ACC Player of the Year contender Greivis Vasquez. The senior, who is averaging 19.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game this season, scored 41 points against Virginia Tech.
“Vasquez is playing lights-out,” Krzyzewski said. “I think teamwise, they’re one of the best teams in the country because they really know how to make use of one another. And in Vasquez, they have a guy who has a motor that can match anybody’s motor in the country. He’s got a great will.”
If the Terrapins are to spring the home upset, however, they will need Vasquez’s supporting cast to come through, something that has been an issue at times this season. While senior Landon Milbourne is averaging 13 points per game, no other Maryland player averages more than 11.
Opponents have exploited this weakness in the Terrapins’ losses, like the one in Durham, where only Vasquez and reserve Cliff Tucker scored in double digits. No other Terrapin scored more than eight points.
Maryland’s lack of height—the team only has three players listed taller than 6-foot-9—could exacerbate this issue by allowing Duke’s own role players down low, led by the resurgent Brian Zoubek and defensive stalwart Lance Thomas, to have a major impact on the contest.
But beyond the game’s obvious meaning in the ACC race, a victory could have far-reaching implications for the Blue Devils. After losing star Robbie Hummel to a torn ACL last week and then falling to Michigan State at home Sunday, Purdue has seemingly lost its grip on the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, leading many experts to predict Duke could claim that position if it wins its remaining games.
The Blue Devils, though, maintain they are focused on the present rather than what is largely out of their control.
“[The No. 1 seed] is not even on the radar. It is not talked about for one second—we have Maryland and North Carolina coming up,” Krzyzewski said.
Indeed, before Duke fans can even begin to dream of a possible NCAA Tournament run, the Blue Devils will need to survive a gauntlet of a last week that includes both of their major rivals.
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