With more than 14 minutes remaining in the first half, the Blue Devils broke the Maryland press, and DeMarcus Nelson knocked down an open three.
The shot put Duke up 21-17, but the score did not tell the real story-the Blue Devils were in trouble.
Despite Duke's initial efforts to slow the Terrapins' up-and-down pace of play, Maryland capitalized on the Blue Devils' defensive lapses to dictate the tempo of the game.
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Duke's defense allowed the Terrapins to get rolling early in the game. Although six three-pointers and 11 offensive rebounds kept the Blue Devils stride for stride with Maryland for most of the first half, it seemed clear that the team which has won all season on the back of its defense did not want to be in this type of offensive horse race.
Indeed, Duke could not keep up its early offensive streak, while Maryland shot 52.4 percent from the field for the game, including 7-for-13 from beyond the arc. The Terrapins dropped 85 points, marking the first time Duke has given up more than 80 points this year.
"Their offense beat our defense," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I thought their offense was very mature, and I thought our defense was very immature."
Duke failed to execute several aspects of the defensive gameplan Krzyzewski said he emphasized before the game.
The Blue Devils did not get back on defense early when Maryland guard D.J. Strawberry leaked out to fast break. They did not pressure sharpshooter Mike Jones-who hit 4-of-5 threes on his way to 25 points. And they did not overplay the initial downscreen, which allowed the Terrapins to get open jumpers and forced the Duke post players to double off their men.
"It's very frustrating for me," Krzyzewski said. "We're supposed to do all three of those things. Did we do them? We did not do them. And it translated to I bet 30 points in the first half."
Freshman point guard Greivis Vasquez, who lit up Duke for 18 points in the first matchup, once again was able to penetrate into the lane often and find open teammates. Vasquez nearly reached a triple-double as he sliced through the Blue Devils' defense for 13 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.
Vasquez took advantage of the Blue Devil defense that many Duke players cited as lacking both execution and effort.
"We've had some pretty down times during the season, but obviously this is one of the worst," sophomore Josh McRoberts said. "To come out and play like we did today, it's embarrassing."
To be fair, the Blue Devils' defensive lapses may not have been as evident against another team. Maryland is a veteran squad that is on an absolute tear. The Terrapins, who feature three seniors and a junior in their starting lineup, have won six straight, and their entire offense has been in a definite flow-Wednesday, Maryland had an astounding 25 assists on their 33 field goals.
Duke's defensive intensity greatly improved midway through the second half, as the Blue Devils forced three turnovers during a 13-2 run to pull within one. Duke tied the game at 64 soon after, but Maryland got good looks on three straight possessions to build back up a seven-point lead.
"We didn't get stops," freshman Jon Scheyer said. "The games we've won all year, we've been tough on defense, and we've been getting stops. That's one thing we didn't do, especially down the stretch."
The Blue Devils sealed their fate when Greg Paulus and Gerald Henderson missed consecutive front ends of one-and-ones, and a deficit that could have been cut to one stayed at five.
The loss guarantees that the Blue Devils can claim, at best, the sixth seed in next week's ACC Tournament. But Krzyzewski said the team's focus remains on improving, and he characterized his team's defensive lapses as "very fixable."
"You have to be more experienced, and the only way to do that is to play these games," he said. "If you do lose, you should lose to somebody who is really good and who has played well against you, so you can learn from it."
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