The road hasn't been kind to the Blue Devils in conference play-and neither have Wednesdays.
When No. 7 Duke heads to College Park, Md. to take on the Terrapins at 9 p.m. in the Comcast Center, the Blue Devils (22-5, 8-4 in the ACC) will attempt to reverse three-game losing streaks both in conference road games and on Wednesdays. And their task won't be easy against Maryland, the nation's latest giant-killer.
After knocking off then-No. 3 North Carolina in overtime Saturday, the Terrapins (17-9, 6-6) are in striking distance for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Maryland likely needs to add another quality win to its resume to secure a postseason berth and has the perfect opportunity against the Blue Devils, whose road woes have been well-documented.
These aren't the same Terrapins that Duke wiped off the floor back in January in a 41-point rout that propelled the Blue Devils to a short-lived No. 1 ranking. Now, Greivis Vasquez, the ACC's player of the week, has his team back in the national conversation, as the junior's triple-double Saturday helped bring Maryland back from a 16-point deficit to defeat the Tar Heels.
"We are going to play a Maryland team again that was at their worst here, and they're at their best now," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Vazquez, in particular, has come on strong as of late. Since his four-point debacle in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the guard has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games, highlighted by his 35-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist masterpiece against North Carolina that was just the third triple-double in Terrapin history.
But Duke also isn't the same squad that it was a month ago.
The Blue Devils fell into a 2-4 swoon after defeating the Terrapins, but seem to have recovered in their last two games by taking care of business on the road against St. John's and holding off Wake Forest in a thriller Sunday.
Part of the recent resurgence has come from more shuffling at the point guard position. The solution? Playing freshman Elliot Williams instead of senior Greg Paulus.
Shooting guard Jon Scheyer--who had a career-high 30 points Sunday-now brings the ball up and, at 6-foot-5, holds a height advantage over his defender, allowing him to be more effective on offense. The Blue Devils have still been able to take care of the ball, as the junior has only had one turnover despite playing 37 minutes in each contest.
On the defensive end, Williams pressures the opposing team's point guard, and even picked up four steals against the Demon Deacons.
"I don't think [it's a radical change]," Scheyer said of the new lineup. "I think it just puts us in different positions. I feel more of our strengths can be used with this lineup. We can create some mismatches and defensively we just need to stay big and stay in front of people, and I think it can be a great lineup."
"Since the last Wake Forest game when we had a tough loss there, our pressure on the ball kind of went out the window," Krzyzewski said. "We just felt we need a change. [Elliot] came up big at St. John's. He hasn't played like a freshman.... He plays with a really good enthusiasm and confidence that you wouldn't think would be there for a kid who hadn't been playing. He's been a huge spark for us."
Duke will need its entire lineup to play with that fire in order to build on the momentum of the team's biggest win of the season. After coming out flat as the country's No. 1, the Blue Devils get another chance to show that they can play consistently good basketball-the type that leads to extended runs in March-even if they have to do it away from home on what has become a troubling day of the week.
"We want to win this league," junior Gerald Henderson said. "We're still fighting."
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