Jan. 21, 2004

Recap| Box Score| Quotes

* The Maryland basketball team (receiving votes AP/ receiving votes ESPN/USA Today) fell to conference arch-nemesis Duke (No. 1 Associated Press/No. 1 ESPN/USA Today) 68-60 in a nationally televised renewal of college basketball's hottest rivalry Wednesday at Comcast Center. The Terps drop to 1-3 in the ACC, while Duke remains undefeated after five games. Overall, Maryland drops to 10-5, while Duke improves to 15-1.

* The Blue Devils now lead the all-time series 98-55, although Duke has fallen in College Park two of the last three seasons (an 87-73 victory on Feb. 17, 2002 and an 87-72 victory on Jan. 18, 2003).

* In six games against ranked opponents in the 2003-04 season - all in the top 15 -- Maryland is an even 3-3, having beaten then No. 15/13 Wisconsin on Dec. 2, then-top-ranked Florida on Dec. 10 and then-No. 9/11 North Carolina on Jan. 14.

* The 128 combined points are the fewest in a Maryland-Duke contest since a 40-36 Terrapin win on Jan. 9, 1982.

* Sophomore forward Nik Caner-Medley had a prolific second half (6-of-9 shooting), finishing with a team-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, with 13 of those points coming in the last ten minutes of the contest.. He also led the Terps with eight rebounds and two blocks.

* Senior Jamar Smith and sophomore John Gilchrist also reached double figures, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. Gilchrist also had seven of the Terps' 16 assists.

* Sophomore guard J.J. Redick paced Duke early with three three-point field goals, while Jamar Smith scored two buckets - one on a thunderous dunk - as the Blue Devils built a 15-10 lead with 10:29 remaining in the first half. Duke scored 11 straight points over a period of three-and-a-half minutes to widen its margin to 23-10. After Duke built its largest lead of the half at 30-16 with 4:07 left in the half, Maryland clawed its way back by scoring 13 of the half's final 18 points - seven by Smith -- to close the halftime deficit to 35-29.

* Smith connected on 5-of-11 field goal attempts to total a team-high 11 points at halftime, while Caner-Medley added 8 points on 3-of-6 shooting, to go along with two blocks. Gilchrist led the Terps with five boards and three assists. As a team, Maryland drained all five free-throw attempts.

* Again, Redick did his damage early in the second half, scoring eight points, helping to extend Duke's lead to 49-35 just over three minutes into the half. But again, Maryland answered, scoring nine of the next 10 points - five by Gilchrist -- to close the gap to 50-44. Caner-Medley helped the Terps keep the game close, scoring 13 of 16 Maryland points late in the second half, including a trey from the corner, bringing Maryland within 58-55 with 4:54 left.. Maryland shot 50 percent from the field in the second half on 13-0f-26 shooting.

* Despite having just nine opportunities from the charity stripe, Maryland connected seven times, for a season-high .778 free-throw shooting percentage.

* Defensively, Maryland made its presence felt in the low post. As the ACC leader in blocked shots, the Terps rejected 11 Duke shots. Ekene Ibekwe led the effort with three swats, while D.J. Strawberry, Caner-Medley and Smith each had two blocks.