LIVE BLOG: No. 5 Duke vs. Maryland

FINAL - Duke 80, Maryland 62

The stands are emptying and the crowd is silent as the Blue Devils finish the game with a 80-62 victory. Despite a close first half, Duke managed to pull away with a strong win over Maryland, despite the Terrapins’ last attempts to repeat last year’s home game victory. Be sure to tune in to tomorrow’s edition of The Chronicle for a detailed game recap and analysis!

5:35 2nd Half, Duke 66, Maryland 54

The Blue Devils do indeed seem to carry the momentum with them, adding eight points—two threes from Dawkins and one driving lay-up from Smith—to Maryland’s three.

OF NOTE – Dino Gregory draws his fourth foul, Maryland’s seventh for the half. Additionally, Mason Plumlee draws his third, making that three players on the court (him, Smith and Singler) with three.

7:54 2nd Half, Duke 58, Maryland 51

Mason Plumlee breaks Maryland’s streak and silences Terrapin fans with an explosive one-handed dunk shortly after he draws a foul from Williams. The Blue Devils need to extend this momentum if it’s looking to prevent another away-game loss because Maryland is definitely upping its tempo and level of play.

OF NOTE – Kyle Singler just passed Ferry and became the fifth all-time scorer.

16:43 2nd Half, Duke 47, Maryland 34

The Blue Devils open up with a 7-1 run coming out of the locker room, putting them ahead by double digits once again. Smith asserted his senior leadership and knocked down two crucial shots, including a three in transition, giving him five of Duke’s seven opening points.

OF NOTE – Singler has tied Danny Ferry has fifth all-time scorer.

OF NOTE – Maryland coach Gary Williams had his hands over his face for the entirety of the last possession—an obvious sign of his displeasure with the way his offense is performing.

OF NOTE - Singler and Miles Plumlee both gains their third foul, making that three Blue Devils with three fouls.

Halftime –

Following a very back-and-forth beginning to the half, both teams showed their own surges of authority, with Duke going on a 13-4 run toward the middle of the half and Maryland ending with a 7-0 run of its own. Going for the Blue Devils are aggressive performances from the Plumlee brothers, particularly Mason, who has contributed eight points and five rebounds. Also playing in Duke’s favor is its arsenal of three-point shooters, led by Curry with two, putting the Blue Devils 6-for-12 from outside the arc. However, if Duke is truly looking to seal the game definitively, the team must find an answer for Jordan Williams’ strong play in the post (Maryland has 18 points in the paint to Duke’s 14). Also on the Terrapins end is strong defense, forcing six turnovers from Duke, including two from Thornton.

INTERESTING STATS –

Duke – The Blue Devils are shooting 50 percent in all three shooting categories—field goals, free throws and three-pointers. Also, Duke had 12 fouls in the first half, three of which are from Kelly (who also is 0-1 in shots).

Maryland – Jordan Williams is 7-for-8 free throws and leads the team with 11 points. The Terrapins as a whole are 0-for-3 from outside the arc and 39 percent in field goals.

Both teams are in the double digits for points made inside the paint: Duke has 14 and Maryland has 18.

INTERESTING HALFTIME PERFORMANCE – What appears to be Maryland’s gymnastics or acrobatics team showed an impressive display of courage and ability, as just under 10 members jumped and flipped through a ring of fire.

Halftime, 1st Half, Duke 40, Maryland 33

The Terrapins close the lead but are still behind by a significant amount just minutes before halftime. Maryland is continuing to shoot balls that bounce straight off the rim, though they do often get second chances after securing the rebound. And with just seconds to go in the half, the Terrapins end strong tightening the lead to single digits. Despite fouling Miles Plumlee—who proceeds to miss both his free throws—Maryland gets back by making an easy two inside the paint, which at that point was devoid of any Blue Devil players, ending the half with a 7-0 run.

OF NOTE – For a while there, no seniors were on the court. The line-up consisted of the two Plumlee brothers, Thornton, Dawkins and Curry.

4:10 1st Half, Duke 38, Maryland 23

Coming out of the time out, the Blue Devils have exhibited great passing, leading to a 13-4 run that puts them ahead with a comfortable 15-point lead. During the streak, Andre Dawkins and Thornton each contributed a three, with Curry adding two treys of his own.

5:44 1st Half, Duke 31, Maryland 23

Dino Gregory comes off with an explosive dunk that sends the entire crowd roaring, but the Terrapins are still behind by five. However, the Blue Devils are getting into foul trouble with nine from the team total and three from Kelly alone.

OF NOTE – Mason Plumlee is making good, aggressive decisions and getting crucial points inside the paint for the Blue Devils.

8:53 1st Half, Duke 22, Maryland 16

As the Terrapins pull away with a two-point lead going into a time out, we see Duke come out of the rest with somewhat of a new spirit. Again we see Duke making use of its big men inside the paint with outside players passing to Plumlee on the right-hand side of the court and him driving into the paint for easy lay-ups. The method has definitely been extremely successful thus far.

OF INTEREST – John Wall of the Washington Wizards is present at the game.

11:30 1st Half, Duke 15, Maryland 14

The Terrapins take the lead for the second time in the game as Kelly draws his second foul, the fourth for the team. (Maryland at this point has three.) Two quick free throws after Smith is fouled puts Duke back on top, but a foul on Singler, followed by two made from Williams gives the Terrapins the lead once again. But Singler quickly makes up for the foul with a two-point jumper of his own.

15:09 1st Half, Duke 11, Maryland 8

Maryland scores another quick two points before Kyle Singler posts points of his own with the first driving lay-up of the game. A couple of minutes later, a quick scramble for the ball inside the paint leads to quick passing back-and-forth from inside to outside the perimeter, and Smith makes a three. But Maryland isn’t letting the Blue Devils off that easy; they’re staying close with easy two-pointers of their own.

OF NOTE – Duke has two fouls (one on Nolan Smith, one on Ryan Kelly) while Maryland has none.

18:30 1st Half, Duke 2, Maryland 2

Duke takes possession of the ball on the tip-off, and Mason Plumlee goes for an easy shot inside the paint, putting Duke on the board just 20 seconds in. The Terrapins attempt to retaliate 20 seconds later but miss with a jumper. With the shot clock just expired, Plumlee goes into the paint again for an explosive dunk that the Maryland fans are definitely unhappy with, but the points don’t count since time expired. The Terrapins make up for it with a two-pointer of their own by Jordan Williams to even the count.

Starting line-up:

Duke – #12 Kyle Singler, #34 Ryan Kelly, #5 Mason Plumlee, #3 Tyler Thornton, #2 Nolan Smith

Maryland - #1 Adrian Bowie, #33 Dino Gregory, #12 Terrell Stoglin, #14 Sean Mosley, #20 Jordan Williams

Preview -

With just under 5 minutes until tip-off, the stands are 80 percent full with Maryland fans hoping for another Duke loss, one that would be Duke’s second in a row at Comcast Center.

The Blue Devils are coming off a 93-78 loss to St. John’s and must improve defensively and face a tough test in the post against sophomore Jordan Williams if they are looking to break away with a victory tonight.

Be sure to keep checking in with the blog for starting line-ups, live score updates and play-by-play analysis! We apologize in advance for sporadic updates; the internet here keeps going in and out.

INTERESTING NOTE – Two football players—one of which was Joe Vellano—delivered a short talk about sportsmanship during and after the game.