DUKE-MARYLAND: THE FIRST THREE GAMES

Jan. 27 at College Park, Md.

DUKE 98

MARYLAND 96

“The fortitude of his team is unbelievable,” said Shane Battier after the overtime victory in which the Blue Devils overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 54 seconds of regulation. The win extended Duke’s Atlantic Coast Conference-record road winning streak to 23 games and was its fourth in as many years in Cole Field House. It seemed as if those streaks would end when the Blue Devils trailed 90-80 with a minute left in regulation. That’s when Jason Williams went to work, scoring eight points--including two three-point baskets--in a 13-second span. Nate James’ two free throws accounted for the final points of regulation. “It was one of those games where everything . . . was going Maryland’s way,” said Williams. “We had a team huddle with 54 seconds left and we could hear the Maryland fans chanting ‘Over-rated.’ We said we are not overrated, we are the Duke team we think we are and we made one of those runs.” Battier scored Duke’s final six points in the overtime and blocked Maryland’s last shot.

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KEY STATISTICS

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MD. DUKE FG Shooting 36-72, .500 28-66, .424 3-Pt. Shooting 4-15, .267 10-31, .323 Bench 35 points 4 points Battier, Williams 45 points

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Feb. 27 at Durham, N.C.

MARYLAND 91

DUKE 80

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski tried to look convincing when he said the Blue Devils had to regroup following their worst defeat of the loss of the season and the loss of sophomore center Carlos Boozer to a broken foot. “We’ve just got to circle the wagons and get tougher,” Krzyzewski said. Boozer, Duke’s main inside scoring threat and top rebounder, suffered his injury early in the second half and didn’t play the final 10 minutes, but the Blue Devils were already in a tailspin. Duke missed 25 of 30 shots in the second half--going eight minutes without a basket after leading 60-51 with 15 minutes remaining. Maryland made 10 of 11 free throws in the final two minutes to keep Duke at a safe distance. Juan Dixon had 28 points and five steals for the Terrapins. Lonny Baxter and Terrence Morris--Maryland’s top big men--dominated around the basket once Boozer left--finishing with 28 points and 23 rebounds. Shane Battier, in his last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, scored 31 points.

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KEY STATISTICS

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MD. DUKE FG Shooting 33-67, .493 27-74, .365 3-Pt. Shooting 5-12, .417 10-33, .303 Bench 16 points 10 points Battier, Williams 44 points

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March 10 at Atlanta

DUKE 84

MARYLAND 82

Even after slumping Nate James lost his starting job in the final week of the regular season, the fifth-year Duke senior never stopped working hard. That was particularly evident in the closing seconds of the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal game at the Georgia Dome. James went up in a crowd of players and tipped in a missed runner from Jason Williams with 1.3 seconds left for the decisive basket. ‘You don’t make the play that he did at the end of the game without being through some wars and having experience in tough games. That was Nate right there,” said Shane Battier. Maryland overcame a 14-point deficit to tie the game at 82-82 on Steve Blake’s three-point basket with 8.1 seconds left. A half-court shot by Juan Dixon at the final buzzer hit the rim. “We showed we’re a good team,” said Blake. ‘We can hang in there with anybody and beat anybody. The thing is we’ll just have to stay positive about the way we played.”

Game accounts compiled from Associated Press

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KEY STATISTICS

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MD. DUKE FG Shooting 32-66, .485 27-75, .360 3-Pt. Shooting 7-17, .412 12-33, .364 Bench 31 points 19 points Battier, Williams 39 points

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