Jan. 21, 2004
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For Maryland, the timing is perfect.
The Terrapins have a knack for defeating top-ranked teams, and the renewal of their spirited rivalry with Duke on Wednesday night comes in the wake of the Blue Devils' ascension to No. 1.
Maryland (10-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is seeking to become only the eighth team in NCAA history to beat the top-ranked team twice in one season. The Terrapins knocked off then-No. 1 Florida on Dec. 10, the ninth time in school history that Maryland upset the nation's top-ranked squad.
Not bad for a team with five freshmen and four sophomores.
"We've already beat a No. 1, so I'd say we're as experienced as any team in the country," Maryland coach Gary Williams said Tuesday. "This isn't anything new for us."
Facing the Blue Devils (14-1, 4-0) in this situation is almost an annual occurrence. Duke invaded Maryland as the top-ranked team in each of the past two seasons, losing both times - first at Cole Field House, then at the Comcast Center.
The Terrapins have every intention of making it three in a row.
"We've had success, but they've gotten us, too," Williams said. "I don't get carried away. They're the best team in the country and they've earned it. They're probably playing as well as they have all season right now."
Duke has won 11 straight, all of them blowouts. Beating No. 1 is a source of pride for the Terps, but Williams hasn't hammered home the point this week while preparing for the Blue Devils.
"We don't even talk about the ranking of a team. They're just a good basketball team, and we've played other good basketball teams this year," the coach said. "We don't need any special thing to get us prepared to play Duke. That's become a good game on a national level, and hopefully we're good enough this year to play them."
Maryland beat Duke at home 87-73 in 2002 en route to winning the national championship, then duplicated the feat last season behind a 24-point effort by Drew Nicholas.
Nicholas is gone, and this season Maryland features a rebuilt squad that has already knocked off three ranked teams _ Wisconsin, Florida and North Carolina.
This, however, represents the stiffest test yet for the upstart Terps.
"Duke is a good, solid team, all the way around," Williams said.
The key for Maryland, first and foremost, is protecting the basketball. The Terrapins committed 22 turnovers in a victory over North Carolina last week and had 19 more Saturday in an 81-71 loss at Georgia Tech.
"We haven't done a good job in limiting turnovers this year, and Duke plays as a good a defense as anybody we play this year," said Williams, who wouldn't allow his players to talk to the media Tuesday.
