Second-seeded Duke basketball will take on seventh-seeded Maryland tonight at 7 p.m. in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
The two teams met twice already this season, each team defending its home court.
Here are your three keys to tonight's action:
Can Duke cool down Dez Wells?
Dez Wells has been a man on fire lately, averaging 17.8 PPG during his last five contests. The 6-foot-5 swingman owns a height advantage over all of Duke's perimeter players and could spent a large portion of the game being defended by Tyler Thornton, who may get the starting nod again after starting the team's regular season finale against North Carolina. When the two teams met at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Wells scored Maryland's first seven points of the game while being guarded by Rasheed Sulaimon, who was subsequently subbed out of the game. How did 'Sheed respond? Coming back in and scoring 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, holding Wells to just six more points the rest of the way as he ended the night 5-of-13 from the field. It will be intriguing to see how Coach K utilizes Sulaimon and Thornton against Wells, who has found his groove offensively.
Plumlee vs. Len
When Duke won 84-64 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Mason Plumlee won the battle against 7-foot-1 phenom Alex Len, scoring 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He limited Len to just eight points in that game. But the meeting in College Park, when the Terrapins won 83-81, was a completely different story as Len held Plumlee to a season-low four points on 2-of-7 shooting, fouling out by the game's end. It's important to note, though, that Ryan Kelly was absent for both of those meetings, still dealing with his foot injury. Kelly's absence allowed the Terrapins to double-team Plumlee more as Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson aren't true offensive threats. Because Kelly is such a deft perimeter shooter—making 53.1% from beyond the arc this year—he creates space in the paint for Plumlee on the offensive end. On the defensive end, Kelly is a smart help defender who stands at 6-foot-11 and blocks 1.6 shots per game, which could be key in helping stop Len.
The fatigue factor
When Duke lost to Maryland in College Park, the Terrapins had three more days of rest than Duke did. This time around, the Blue Devils have a big advantage as they have been off since their regular-season finale against North Carolina, receiving a bye in the ACC Tournament's first round. Maryland, by contrast, had to play a grueling game against Wake Forest yesterday. The Terrapins haven't had to play on short rest all season—they've had at least two days of rest for every game.
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