Terps hit tough shots down stretch to earn ACC win

In Pictures — Game Gallery

Turning Point

With 1:44 left, Maryland scored off an offensive rebound to break a 69-69 tie.  The Blue Devils missed a pair of 3’s on our next possession and Maryland pushed the lead to four on a tough one-handed fade-away shot by Greivis Vasquez with 39 seconds left.

Blue Devil Ballers

Nolan Smith led Duke with 20 points, Jon Scheyer added 19 and Kyle Singler scored 14.

Duke Data

6-1 — Duke record in the past seven games against Maryland… The loss snaps a six-game win streak dating back to 2007.

13 — Rebounds in the game by Brian Zoubek

62.5% — Duke’s FT percentage in the game (10-16), compared to Maryland’s 89.5% (17-19)

Coach K’s Comments

“It was just a one shot game.  Both teams played so hard and I’m proud of my guys.  I thought we played winning basketball.  I tell them all the time, if we miss shots, you take your swings and they’re good swings, and you lose, you lose.  Just make sure you play your butts off and play to win and I thought that’s what we did tonight.  We just came up short.  They are to be congratulated; they are playing lights-out basketball, but I thought both teams played really hard.  I don’t think one team played better than the other, it was a one possession game and they won.”

Locker Room Reaction

Jon Scheyer: “It comes down to a possession or two of theirs.  They made a couple of their shots, we missed a couple of ours.  That’s the way it goes.”

Around the Web

Box score — Stat recap

AP recap — Vasquez lifts Maryland

Quotes — Player and coach comments

Notes

*Next up: Duke faces UNC in Cameron on Saturday (9 PM, ESPN).  With a victory, Duke claims the top seed in the ACC Tournament and the ACC regular-season championship.

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