In the past year, Maryland hasn't been nearly as successful as Duke, which reached its 14th Final Four last season and won 18 of its first 20 games this season. But in the three head-to-head meetings of what has become arguably the fiercest rivalry in the ACC this decade, none of that matters.
Maryland earned its third straight victory over Duke last night, beating the seventh-ranked Blue Devils 99-92 in overtime before an ear-splitting crowd of 17,950 at Comcast Center. Three of Duke's five losses in the last 11 months have been against Maryland, including the Terps' victory in the 2004 ACC tournament final.
Ekene Ibekwe celebrates with fans after Maryland's overtime victory over Duke. Ibekwe's three-point play gave the Terps an 88-86 lead with 39.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
(Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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| _____ Tournament Outlook _____
A look at the local Division I colleges and their chances of making the NCAA tournament.
_____ Maryland_____
• Record: 16-10
• RPI: 39
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Duke, vs. Georgia Tech, vs. Duke
• Key Losses: vs. GW, vs. North Carolina State, at Miami, vs. Clemson
• Prognosis: Given the respect of the ACC and their RPI of 39, the Terps are likely in by winning at least two more games.
_____ Georgetown_____
• Record: 16-9
• RPI: 70
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: at Pittsburgh, at Villanova, vs. Notre Dame
• Key Losses: vs. Oral Roberts, vs. Temple, at St. John's
• Key Remaining Games: at Connecticut (March 2)
• Prognosis: The Hoyas are in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament unless they can beat Connecticut on the road and have a decent showing in the Big East tournament.
_____ George Washington_____
• Record: 18-7
• RPI: 78
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. Maryland, vs. Michigan State
• Key Losses: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Xavier, at Richmond
• Prognosis: Losing to Saint Joseph's at home puts a major dent in the Colonials' tournament hopes. They have an outside shot of getting an at-large bid if they advance to the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
_____ Virginia Tech_____
• Record: 14-12
• RPI: 122
• AP Ranking: Not Ranked
• Key Wins: vs. North Carolina State, at Georgia Tech, vs. Duke, vs. Miami
• Key Losses: at VMI, at St. John's, vs. Western Michigan
• Key Remaining Games: vs. Maryland
• Prognosis: The loss to Clemson at the buzzer severely damages the Hokies' tournament dreams. They likely need to beat Maryland and advance deep into the ACC tournament to have a chance.
American, George Mason, Howard, Navy and Virginia all need to win their conference tournaments to make the tournament.
**RPI taken from http://kenpom.com/rpi.php
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The Terrapins (15-7, 6-5) have swept the Blue Devils (18-3, 8-3) in the regular season for the first time since the 1994-95 season. Afterward, fans converged on the court to celebrate and hug players. Maryland's John Gilchrist cried.
"There have been times when this team could have given up," Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. "But this team never has, and it never will."
Duke was led by its scoring trio of J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams and Daniel Ewing, which combined for 67 points. But five Blue Devils fouled out, including Ewing and Williams. Duke, which doesn't have a deep bench, missed all nine of its shots in overtime.
It was a team effort for the Terps, six of whom scored in double figures.
Gilchrist scored a team-high 19 points and also had 10 rebounds and nine assists.
"The thing that impressed me the most," Maryland's Nik Caner-Medley said, "was that everyone contributed, everyone made a key play down the stretch."
Few plays were more important than the three-point play converted by Maryland center Ekene Ibekwe, who had sat the previous two games because of a cracked rib. His basket and free throw gave Maryland an 88-86 lead with 39.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
Ibekwe, who scored 11 points in 17 minutes, said he felt pain throughout the game, but he forgot about it because of the intensity of the contest.
"That showed me something," Williams said. "This isn't exactly a game you might want to come back because you know there is going to be a lot of pressure."
In terms of regular season games, no victory is cherished more by Williams, who relished the opportunity to match wits against other elite coaches. Earlier in the week Williams had called Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who has won three national titles, the finest coach of the modern era.
For the most part, the crowd -- which Williams said was the loudest he has heard in College Park -- behaved, opting to heed the request of the Maryland administration and refrain from using profanity-laced chants. But the primary target of the fans' less offensive heckling remained the same as last season: Redick, Duke's sharp-shooter who has been chided by opposing fans throughout the league.
"Please understand that every place we go, we hear things as bad as what you heard last year," Williams said.
After he made just two first-half shots last night, Duke looked for Redick early in the second half. The junior made two three-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half, the second of which gave Duke a 52-50 advantage.
The game's intensity soon grew. At one point, Chris McCray and Redick exchanged words nose to nose, and the game had to be stopped to restore order. Moments later, Ewing, after making a basket that gave Duke a nine-point lead, was whistled for a technical foul after yelling in the face of Ibekwe.
McCray, and at times Mike Jones, held Redick to 3 of 10 on three-point attempts.
Trailing by nine midway through the second half, Maryland went on an 8-0 surge keyed by Jones, whose three-pointer closed the gap to 73-72 with 8 minutes 26 seconds remaining.
Maryland soon took the lead after Duke's foul trouble continued to mount.
Williams picked up his fourth foul, and fellow big man Shavlik Randolph fouled out.
"It was frustrating," Redick said. "We were definitely at a disadvantage missing five of our main players [in overtime]. They just had more overall athleticism than we did in the overtime because they still had their main guys."
