It wouldn’t be the ACC Tournament without at least one huge upset. This year’s first goes to the University of Maryland. The No. 7 ranked Terrapins, who will transfer to the Big East next year and have made it clear that they will not be leaving quietly, defeating No. 2 seed Duke 83-74 in the quarterfinal round March 15.
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Prior to the game, Duke was ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Blue Devils had won nine straight ACC Tournament games at the Greensboro Coliseum and had reached the ACC title game in each of the last six times the Tournament has been held at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Maryland, who advanced to Friday’s game with a 75-62 win over Wake Forest in the first round Thursday night, scored the first points of the game with a three-point field goal from freshman Jake Layman and maintained the lead for the entire game.
Maryland got to the first media timeout with the 10-point lead shooting 4-of-8 while holding Duke to 1-of-6. Sophomore Dez Wells led the Terrapins in the quick 12-2 start with seven points, and Layman added the other five. Wells, a career 67 percent free throw shooter, also went 10-of-10 from the line while .
After a dunk by senior All-ACC first team honoree senior Mason Plumlee, Duke was held to just two points for nearly three minutes until freshman Rasheed Suilamon scored two shots and a free throw with 14 minutes left in the half.
Maryland held Duke, the top three-point shooting team in the league, to 4-of-25 (16.0 percent) from beyond the arc for the game and 1-of-10 in the first half. The Terrapin defense kept the Blue Devils to 27-of-65 (41.5 percent) from the field.
Junior Tyler Thornton nailed a three to break a 0-7 spell for Duke from the arc, but the Blue Devils still trailed 31-24 with 2:40 left in the half.
The Terrapins held Duke to 26 points in the first half. It was the 13th time this season that Maryland has held an opponent to 26 or fewer points in the first 20 minutes and seventh time against an ACC opponent.
Despite double-figure scoring from Plumlee and Suilamon, who led their team with 19 points and 16 points, respectively, the Blue Devils simply could not gain the momentum necessary to match Maryland’s power. A total of five players reached double figures for the Terrapins for the second straight game and sixth time this season. Wells led with 30, followed by sophomores Nick Faust and Seth Allen and freshmen Layman and Alex Len, who all had 10 points.
Maryland’s early lead had a tremendous impact on Duke’s performance and the end result. “The first four minutes of each half, I think, are the most important, and it makes a statement to the other team, you know, that you’re ready to play,” said Duke sophomore Quinn Cook. “Maryland’s fighting for a lot right now, and they wanted it more tonight.”
When asked about Maryland’s three-point percentage in comparison to Duke’s, Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski called it a “phenomenon.”
“It was an amazing thing,” he said. “I just wish we were the thing that was amazing.”
Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, said, “We weren’t the Duke team that’s played most of this season, especially in the last couple of weeks. So, I’m disappointed in our performance, but also very impressed with the performance of Maryland.”
“It’s hard to lose to [Maryland] two times in a row. Losing in the first round or the second round of the ACC tournament is heartbreaking,” Cook said. “It hurts but we’ve got to keep up.”
The Blue Devils, who will play in the NCAA tournament next week, are determined not to let Friday’s loss affect their performance.
“This is no time to start questioning,” Plumlee said. “If this happens next week, we’re done.”
As the Blue Devils prepare for what they hope will be a longer run in the NCAA tournament, Maryland will take on No. 3 seed North Carolina on Saturday, March 16 at 3:00 p.m. in the Greensboro Coliseum.