Jan. 27, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland basketball team topped No. 2 Duke, 75-66, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, improving to 12-5 on the season and 3-3 in the ACC. The Terps upended Duke's perfect 15-0 start, and broke a 10-game win streak for the Blue Devils in Durham.
The Maryland-Duke rivalry proved once again to be one of the hottest in all of college basketball. The Terrapins have now won four of their last seven meetings overall with the Blue Devils, five of their last 11 and six of their last 14 matchups. All three are bests among all Duke opponents, including Duke's traditional rival, North Carolina.
The win marked the Terps' third victory on Duke's home floor in the last six tries, since the 1999-2000 season. The Terrapins posted a 98-87 victory over the No. 3 Blue Devils on Feb. 9, 2000, and a 91-80 win over No. 2 Duke on Feb. 27, 2001, both in Durham.
Three of Duke's last six losses at Cameron Indoor Stadium have been at the hands of the Terrapins. Duke is 77-6 at home since the 1999-2000 season, having lost three times to the Terps, once to St. John's (Feb. 26, 2000), once to North Carolina (Feb. 1, 2001) and once to Georgia Tech (March 3 of last season). The other three teams combined to beat Duke by a total 11 points (3.7 ppg), while the Terps have won by margins of 11 in each of their three recent victories at Cameron.
The Terrapins have now posted victories in six-straight seasons over the Blue Devils.
Maryland has now beated the No. 1 or No. 2-ranked team in the country for five straight seasons. The win over No. 2 Duke at Cameron, coupled with the Terps' victory at No. 1 Florida on Dec. 10, 2003, were both on their opponents' home floors.
The Terps-Devils matchup featured the ACC's two longest-tenured head coaches, and the only two mentors in the league that have captured the NCAA title, in Maryland's Gary Williams and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. Williams currently owns the second-most victories among all current league coaches, and with the win on Wednesday, he is now in fifth place outright on the ACC's all-time victories list. Williams surpassed former Virginia head coach Terry Holland with 327 victories as the head coach of the Terps. Holland had 326 at UVA from 1974-90).
The victory also gave Williams fourth place outright in terms of victories over ACC league teams. Williams currently owns 135 wins at Maryland over teams in the ACC, while former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins totaled 134 from 1982-2000 with the Yellow Jackets.
Bolstered by a 15-for-31 performance in the second half, Maryland finished the game shooting 41.3 from the field. The Terrapin defense held the Blue Devils to a season-low .333 shooting performance (24-for-72) that included a 7-for-25 (.280) effort from long range. Duke came into the game shooting .487 from the field and .386 from the 3-point line.
Nik Caner-Medley led the Terps in scoring for the fifth-consecutive contest, netting a game-high 25 points to go along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists. The junior played 37 minutes, shooting 8-for-13 from the field (.615) and drilling three 3-pointers. He left the game with an ankle injury but will return to the court when the Terps resume practice on Friday.
Caner-Medley is averaging 24.4 points and 7.4 rebounds over his last five games.
Terp point guard John Gilchrist, the 2004 ACC Tournament MVP, had an all-around tremendous performance against the Blue Devils. Gilchrist scored 10 points with nine rebounds, dished three assists and made two steals.
Ekene Ibekwe came off the bench to score 15 with nine boards, including four offensive. Ibekwe recorded a go-ahead layup with 1:24 to play, grabbed critical rebounds and made crucial free throws down the stretch. He and teammate Travis Garrison combined for 9-of-10 free throws in the game's final 1:01.
Sophomores Mike Jones and Will Bowers earned their first career starts for the Terps, each proving to be pressure performers. Bowers grabbed a career-high tying seven rebounds, scored four points and blocked two shots, while Jones made a pair of critical field goals and played solid defense all game.
