After home loss, Duke rebounds to defeat Maryland,74-61

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It appears the dedication of the court to former Maryland head coach Gary Williams will be the only good memory Terrapin fans have to remember from Wednesday night after No. 6 Duke defeated Maryland, 74-61, in a long-time rival road win.

After a loss at home last Saturday against Florida State, Duke (17-3, 5-1 ACC) knew that beating Maryland was its shot at getting back on track, and it wasn’t letting this one slip away.

Mason Plumlee scored a season-high of 23 points along with 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils while Ryan Kelly and Austin Rivers had 14 and 10 points, respectively. But even with the impressive shooting game from Plumlee, Duke’s real game winner was its defense.

The first half was a tug-of-war between the two teams, with no clear leader to start the game off. Maryland (12-7, 2-3 ACC) had a 14-4 run early in the game that put it up 18-10. But by halftime, Duke had regained the lead, 37-34.

Early in the second half Maryland seemed to refuse defeat. After being down 42-38, a three-pointer from Pe’Shon Howard and two jumpers and jump shots by Terrell Stoglin and Alex Len put the Terrapins up by three.

The excitement was short lived as Duke came back, determined to take the win.

With 6:19 left, Duke led by 5 and held Maryland scoreless for nearly five minutes. Stoglin broke the scoreless run with a jumper but Maryland never regained the lead..

Duke knew this was their chance to bounce back from its home loss and the Blue Devils enthusiasm, determination to winand sheer talent is what pulled them ahead of Maryland in this ACC road victory.

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