Duke 87-71, END OF SECOND HALF: The Blue Devils take care of the ball and make their free throws to come out with a win. Great inspired effort from Duke, particularly after Smith went down. Check back here and dukechronicle.com for postgame coverage.
Duke 76-63, SECOND HALF 3:16 remaining: Curry had a pretty horrible start to this game, but he has responded brilliantly since Smith went down, spearheading a 9-1 run in which he scored or assisted on all of Duke's points. The redshirt sophomore could have had one more basket in that stretch, but he just missed on a layup in transition after stealing the ball on the Maryland perimeter. After keeping up with Duke for almost the whole game, the Terrapins seem to finally have run out of steam.
Duke 70-60, SECOND HALF 5:13 remaining: Smith just headed back to the locker room, but returned almost immediately. He's sitting at the front of the bench, but one can't imagine Krzyzewski would risk putting him back in the game with the Blue Devils up by double digits.
Duke 68-60, SECOND HALF 5:40 remaining: The Blue Devils aren't missing a beat, even with the absence of their floor general Smith on the court. Singler stole the ball on the ensuing possession and even after being tripped up, dove and fought to maintain possession. On the next play, Curry made a beautiful spin move on the perimeter and finished with a nice floater and one to score Duke's first points in over three minutes.
Duke 65-60, SECOND HALF 6:48 remaining: A real scary sight for Duke fans, and really everyone in the building. Nolan Smith just went down hard. Play stopped and Krzyzewski came onto the court to check on him. Smith is now hobbling gingerly off the court and is putting little to no pressure on his left foot. It would be surprising to see him come back in this game.
Duke 65-60, SECOND HALF 7:55 remaining: Singler continues to come through for Duke, getting a big bucket by driving down the left side of the lane and finishing at the basket to maintain a two-possession lead. The defense is tightening up on both sides for the final stretch.
Duke 59-55, SECOND HALF 11:23 remaining: Smith is finally on the board with a basket, and the Blue Devils are going to need their leading scorer to keep the Terrapins at bay. Maryland has had answer for every Duke bucket or run this half and flirted with the fullcourt press to fluster the Blue Devils, causing at least one turnover.
Curry also hasn't really found his rhythm today, and Krzyzewski seems to have elected to stay with the bigger Dawkins instead of his starting shooting guard. Dawkins has rewarded his coach's faith and just made a 3-pointer to stretch Duke's lead back to four.
One problem for Duke is that Maryland has only been whistled for two fouls, while the Blue Devils have already been called for eight, and the Terrapins have started to make some free throws in this period.
Duke 47-42, SECOND HALF 15:37 remaining: Singler is no longer perfect from the field after missing a short turnaround jumper and the Blue Devils have to do a better job of boxing out in this half.
Duke 47-38, SECOND HALF 17:14 remaining: The Terrapins finally hit a free throw, as Stoglin converted on a three-point play, but the Blue Devils have maintained their halftime advantage. Duke is getting out in transition, and even though the team has missed two layups on the break, everyone is running the floor for putbacks.
HALFTIME STATS:
- I thought Kyle Singler was having a good first half. Didn't realize that he's been perfect thus far: 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
- Ryan Kelly is also a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, but he did miss his lone free throw attempt.
- Mason Plumlee is the game's leading rebounder with eight boards.
- Maryland has yet to make a free throw this game. Jordan Williams is the primary culprit, having missed all of five of his attempts as the team has gone 0-for-6 from the line.
- Nolan Smith was 0-of-4 from the field. He was sporting an Allen Iverson-esqe shooting sleeve in the first half, but doesn't appear to be wearing it as the team warms up for the second period.
Duke 42-33, END OF FIRST HALF: A fitting end to a very solid first half for Singler, as he hits a layup with the clock winding down to give Duke its biggest lead of the game. He leads all scorers with 14, and Kelly is close behind with 11. Jordan Williams leads the Terrapins with 10 points, but Maryland hasn't made a point of running its offense through him. In particular, freshman guard Terrell Stoglin has been awfully careless with the ball for the Terrapins, taking ill-advised shots and playing poorly in transition to the tune of four turnovers.
Duke 34-31, FIRST HALF 3;11 remaining: Maryland won't go away quietly. Down seven, the Terrapins stormed back with a 7-0 run to tie the game, aided by a couple of awfully sloppy turnovers from Nolan Smith. The senior guard still hasn't found his rhythm today, with only two points off of free throws.
Duke 27-24, FIRST HALF 6:52 remaining: Kyle Singler is shouldering the offensive load for the Blue Devils, and has been very effective on defense as well, already disrupting two fast breaks by drawing a charge and deflecting a pass on the other. He's finally getting some help scoring the ball from Ryan Kelly, who has hit his last three field goals after missing the front end of a one-and-one. Duke has been in the bonus for the last three and a half minutes, but has no points to show for it, with both Kelly and Thornton missing their freebies.
Duke 19-17, FIRST HALF 11:37 remaining: Still not a whole lot of trouble scoring for either team, although Nolan Smith hasn't been able to find his stroke yet. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski gave him a breather, pairing Curry and Dawkins in the backcourt, which led to the unfamiliar sight of Dawkins running the halfcourt offense.
Mason Plumlee has been productive in the post, but so has his defensive assignment, Jordan Williams. If Williams can hit his free throws--he's already missed four--it will be even more difficult for Duke to contain him.
Maryland 9-8, FIRST HALF 15:25 remaining: The two teams are both finding a good rhythm on offense and essentially trading baskets, but the Terrapins have the advantage due to a 3-pointer from Haukur Palsson, who I'm told is something of a long-range specialist.
Maryland forward Dino Gregory is having success taking Miles Plumlee away from the basket and has had three open looks from about 15 feet. As a result, it looks like Ryan Kelly is coming in for Plumlee, along with Andre Dawkins for Seth Curry, who has missed his first two shots.
STARTING LINEUPS:
Maryland--F Jordan Williams, F Dino Gregory, G Terrell Stoglin, G Adrian Bowie, F Haukur Palsson
Duke--F Kyle Singler, F Miles Plumlee, C Mason Plumlee, G Seth Curry, G Nolan Smith
MORE PREGAME: The surprising news for Duke today was the presence of freshman point guard Kyrie Irving in warmups. He was on the floor with the rest of the team, warming up with the assistance of a Duke trainer, but left about an hour ago and got into his street clothes. Maryland forward Jordan Williams looked especially confused to see Irving, who hasn't played since Dec. 4 against Butler, on the court.
PREGAME: We're here live from Greensboro Coliseum as the No. 2 seed Blue Devils take on the Terrapins in the first game of the ACC Tournament for Duke. Maryland advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating N.C. State--the 10-seed--in the first round, 75-67. The Terrapins and Blue Devils met twice this season, with Duke winning both at Cameron Indoor Stadium and in the Comcast Center at College Park, Md.
The roar is deafening as the Blue Devils come on to the court, but it's a mix of friendly cheers and boos from North Carolina fans who saw their top-seeded team come back from a 19-point deficit earlier today against No. 9 Miami.
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