DUKE 63, MARYLAND 60, 5:10 remaining 2nd half: Terps 30 second timeout after G nails a big three. Vasquez and Mosley are substituting in for each other on offense and D, respectively.
DUKE 49, MARYLAND 52, 11:40 remaining 2nd half: This game keeps getting more physical, more intense, and faster—and Vasquez hasn't been in for more than six minutes. Huge buzzer-beating threes, first from Hayes then from Bowie set the crowd off and seem to be deflating the Blue Devils. Also, Smith went down with a head injury (too soon to determine whether it was a concussion) when Duke was up four when Dave Neal took him down and then drained a three to bring the Terps within one at 43-42.
DUKE 41, MARYLAND 37, 17:20 remaining 2nd half: Tucker picks up his third foul and the fans in Comcast are less than pleased. Right before the called Maryland timeout, Singler stripped a Terrapin of his rebound under the Duke basket and dunked it with authority. The Blue Devils bench rose from their seats. Let's see if this sparks something.
DUKE 37, MARYLAND 36, 17:20 remaining 2nd half: Greivis Vasquez picks up his fourth foul. Duke has the chance to open this up if it plays its cards right.
HALFTIME DUKE 34, MARYLAND 34: Zoubek gets rejected near the end of the period on a shot that would have given Duke its first lead of the game. All in all, the Blue Devils are tied after playing a less-than-stellar first half. Henderson led all Duke scorers with eight points and Vasquez and Milbourne both put up eight for the Terps. In other news, I got the opportunity to talk to Mike Wilbon in the press room for about 10 minutes. We mostly discussed the state of journalism in our hometown of Chicago (couldn't help myself, it's one of my pet issues). But it was wonderful that he took the time to talk to someone as low on the press totem poll as I am. He couldn't have been more gracious or cool.
DUKE 16, MARYLAND 18, 7:42 remaining first half: G sank a beautiful jumper to bring Duke within two at 14-16. Maryland is still missing chippies, including a missed Mosley drive that rolled out, and leaving the door open for the Blue Devils.
DUKE 12, MARYLAND 16, 11:23 remaining first half: The crowd roars as the official timeout is called because although the Terrapins lead is only four, they seem to be dominating Duke in every facet of the game. Maryland has missed some easy shots, but is basically getting whatever it wants. In the past four minutes, which again have flown by, Duke has at time looked confused on offense. Smith hit a three, but aside from that still looked a bit lost at the helm of the offense. Greg Paulus got a few minutes, and I'm setting the over-under at five for the game total, as Maryland presents a matchup nightmare for the senior guard. Let's see if Duke responds better out of this TV timeout than it did the last. Singler and Scheyer back in the game.
DUKE 12, MARYLAND 14, 12:34 remaining first half: Zouuuuuuuuuubek is in for the first time in recent memory.
DUKE 7, MARYLAND 10, 15:47 remaining first half: Wow that was a FAST four minutes. Landon Milbourne for the Terps has six of his team's 10 points, highlighted by a fantastic baseline power move from the left side of the bucket. Duke has kept up, buoyed by a Williams trey bomb. The game so far feels a lot like the first half of the North Carolina game in Cameron— and you sort of get the feeling that Maryland is playing exactly at the tempo it wants, and that Duke should try to settle into its offense. Also of note, these Terrapins fans really, really, dig JSchey. Nolan Smith and Dave McClure in the game for Duke coming out of break.
STARTING LINEUPS: For the Blue Devils, Henderson, Lance Thomas, Kyle Singler, Williams and Scheyer. For the Terrapins, a light show 1990s Chicago Bulls style (OK, not really, they've got Mibourne, Vasquez, Bowie, Burney, Neal). Wilbon just said hi to me. I said hi back. Thrilling stuff.
PREGAME UPDATE: The Scheyer face posters have arrived in full force. Like, you'd think the Northbrook, Ill.-native were a deity with the number of images of his likeness floating around the stadium. The Maryland fans created a facebook event entitled, "Operation Scheyerface 2.0." Over 1,100 RSVP'd "attending."
PREGAME: Welcome friends to the Comcast Center in College Park, MD. As I type, the sellout crowd is embroiled in a passionate back-and-forth chant of [earmuffs, please] "Duke!" "Sucks!" Man, that top-rate Maryland education lends itself to creativity. Sorry I'm a bit late this evening, there were some credential issues followed by me not being allowed to my seat because the Terrapins were entering the arena. For the record, Greivis Vasquez amped up the team (which is donning the ever-so-intimidating color of mac and cheese yellow tonight) right at the edge of the tunnel. In case you're wondering, there has been a Scott Van Pelt sighting !! and the Terrapin faithful are showering their native son with cheers of his name. I'll keep you posted on any developments, obviously. My fellow Chronicler, Gabe Starosta, and I have pretty legit seats for tonight's game—right next to the Washington Post, so I'll also let you know if Michael Wilbon and I chat it up/what he thinks of the Blue Devils chances this year once the bright lights of the ESPN cameras are off. As for the contest itself, look for Vasquez to be more of the Vasquez who showed up Saturday night against UNC versus the one who showed up in January at Cameron. For Duke, this might be the first real test for Elliot Williams, who flourished in his newly-earned starting role at St. John's and against Wake at home. I'll go out on a limb and predict that Gerald Henderson will be the player of the game for the Blue Devils. That's all I got for now. Sorry for the staccato-style writing, but it's crazy in here. Lots and lots o' students, who just errupted to the highlight video on the jumbotron, which just showed the UNC upset clip. T-minus 10 minutes til tip. Stick with us; it should be a good one.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.