Postgame Notes: Maryland 87, Duke 72 - University of Maryland Athletics

Jan. 18, 2003

The Maryland basketball team (No. 17 AP, No. 15 USA Today/ESPN) recorded a 87-72 victory, defeating top-ranked Duke for the second time in a row, and posting the eighth victory in program history over the No. 1 team in the country. The Terps move to 10-4 on the season and 3-1 in the ACC, while the previously-undefeated Blue Devils fall to 12-1, (3-1 ACC). There are no more undefeated teams in the country.

The margin of victory was the largest by the Terps over Duke since a 77-60 win on Feb. 6, 1982. It was Duke's biggest loss, margin-wise, since losing 83-68 to North Carolina on March 13, 1998.

The Terps' victory over No. 1 Duke gave head coach Gary Williams his fifth career victory over a top-ranked team, with four at Maryland and one at Ohio State. Williams is now tied with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski for the lead among active ACC coaches with the win.

Maryland coach Gary Williams logged the 491st win of his career, and is now just nine wins from 500. He is the 20th-leading active coach in America in terms of victories, and is 117-91 against ACC opponents since taking the Terps' reins prior to the 1989-90 season - good enough for sixth all-time.

Maryland's victory was the 49th win over an AP top 25 team since Gary Williams became the Terps' head coach for the 1989-90 season.

The Terps' earned their 13th consecutive regular season ACC victory at home, having not fallen in College Park since a Feb. 14, 2001, loss to Florida State.

The Terps' victory despite a halftime deficit was in line with a recent trend in the Maryland-Duke series. Including Saturday's Maryland victory, six of the last seven games on the series have been won by the team that trailed at halftime.

The Terrapins trailed 13-3 by a break in the action at the 17:15 mark in the first half, but went on a 14-0 run over the next 4:26 to make it 17-13 at 12:49. Terp senior Ryan Randle had six points, four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal across that stretch. A pair of Jamar Smith free throws with 10:25 to play in the second half gave Maryland its first double-figure lead of the game (11 points), and from there the Terrapins never let their lead get below 10 points.

The Terrapins finished the game shooting 26 of 56 from the field for a .464 percentage, 6 of 15 from 3-point range (.400) and 29 of 31 from the free throw line (.935). The free throw percentage is the seventh best all-time in school history.

The Terrapins totaled 17 assists for the game, averaging 20.8 in their last five contests. Maryland currently paces the ACC in assists and ranks second in the nation, entering today's matchup averaging 19.7 per game.

Senior guard Drew Nicholas scored 12 of his 24 points in the first half, and finished the day 7 of 16 (.438) from the field and 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Nicholas averages 21.3 ppg in the Terps' four conference games. He has led the Terps on the scoresheet in eight of 14 games this season, and three of the four ACC contests.

Senior Ryan Randle posted his fourth career double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. He also added four assists, one block and one steal. All of Randle's double-doubles have come during his senior season, and his 2002-03 total is tied for second in the conference.

With six assists in the game, senior All-America candidate Steve Blake totals 851 for his career. Blake is currently in 18th place on the all-time NCAA assists chart, and needs 149 to reach 1,000 in his career. He also scored eight points and needs 64 points to become Maryland's 40th 1,000-point scorer.

The ACC's current leader in blocked shots, Tahj Holden rejected three Blue Devil attempts to go along with 10 points and three rebounds. The senior entered the game as the conference leader with a 1.83 blocks per game average.

Junior Jamar Smith came off the bench to score eight points, all in the second half, on 3 of 4 shooting. He added six rebounds in a sensational second-period effort.

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