Duke vs Maryland Basketball Recap

Duke 77, Maryland 56

Well, at least Maryland did better this year at Cameron Indoor Stadium than it did last year.

That's about the only good thing coach Gary Williams could take from a Saturday afternoon drubbing at the hands of Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils, who trounced the visiting Terrapins... just not as thoroughly as they did in 2009.

One year ago, Maryland came to Durham, N.C., and fell behind 40-15 at halftime, en route to a nasty 85-44 defeat in the ACC's toughest arena for road teams. This time around, the Terps trailed by "only" a 40-24 score at the break, and after an eight-point run midway through the second half, they shaved a big Duke lead down to.... wait for it.... 12 points.

Yeah, that's how much Maryland "improved" against Coach K's crew. Even when the kids from College Park established a modest amount of success, they still found themselves in deep trouble on the scoreboard. That's the kind of winter wipeout this ACC encounter proved to be.

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The biggest reason for Duke's supremacy in this game was center Brian Zoubek. Usually relegated to the rank of a role player because of his inconsistent scoring and deficient low-post moves at the offensive end of the floor, Zoubek was actually able to play big and ring up impressive numbers due to the lack of size on Maryland's front line. The tallest Terp who saw action on Saturday was Jordan Williams, a 6-foot-9 reserve forward who is also a freshman. Zoubek - a 7-1 senior - was able to play a personalized game of volleyball on the backboard, and as a result, the 260-pounder was able to swallow up 17 rebounds, eight of them offensive. Zoubek's boardwork enabled him to collect a number of stickback baskets on the way to a 16-point performance. Duke guard Jon Scheyer had a typically impressive 22-point performance on 50-percent field goal shooting, but even when Scheyer missed, the prospect of an offensive rebound gave the Blue Devils - and Zoubek in particular - a good chance to score anyway. That's how badly the deck was stacked against Maryland in this contest. The matchups simply weren't even.

To put this rout in a fuller context, the four Maryland starters other than superstar guard Greivis Vasquez (17 points on 7-of-12 shooting) combined for just 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting, with no threes and only five three throws. All told, the Terps shot 38 percent from the floor, hit only two threes, and attempted just 11 foul shots. Duke's defense strangled Gary Williams's lineup and denied the combination of easy baskets and long balls that can keep a road team competitive in Cameron.

Yes, this game was better than last year for Maryland. Much good that did the beaten and battered Terrapins on a Saturday reserved for a smackdown.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer