Tag Archives: Maryland Terrapins

Blue Devils fall to Maryland in semifinal rematch

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After clawing back to a 10-8 deficit early in the fourth quarter, Duke surrendered six unanswered goals to Maryland, falling 16-10 in the NCAA tournament semifinal. Maryland’s sharpshooting was on display throughout scoring 16 goals on 29 shots.

With the loss, the Blue Devils fall short of the national championship game for the second consecutive season. The Terrapins advance to Monday’s title game against Loyola (Md.). Maryland is searching for its first national championship since 1975 in a matchup with its fiercest lacrosse rival.

Duke failed to execute in Maryland’s third, especially in man-advantage situations. The Blue Devils’ extra-man unit, which has struggled all season, was unable to convert on multiple opportunities when the deficit was closed to two goals. The Terrapins took advantage of Duke’s inability to score, stringing together six goals to put the game out of reach.

The Blue Devils struggled on the defensive end, allowing its highest goal total of the season. Maryland attacked the center of Duke’s defense as nine different Terrapins found the back of the net. Dan Wigrizer only managed seven saves while allowing 13 goals before he was taken out of the game with 7:29 to play. Both Kyle Turri and Mike Rock saw action in the game’s final minutes as Duke pulled its goalies out of the cage to double the ball in hopes of mounting a comeback.

 

Blue Devils trail Maryland at halftime

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Much to Duke’s dismay, this year’s NCAA tournament semifinal is looking eerily similar to last year’s thus far.

At the half, the No. 3 seeded Blue Devils (15-4) trail unseeded Maryland (11-5) 7-4 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Six different scorers have tallied goals thus far for the Terrapins, who have controlled possession and the pace of the game for the first two quarters.

The Blue Devils were unable to create opportunities in transition in the first half, falling into the Terrapins slow pace. Maryland’s patience paid off in its shot selection, scoring seven goals on just 12 shots.

Ball movement was a struggle for Duke as the Terrapins clamped down on the defensive end. Just one of the Blue Devils’ four goals was assisted, while Maryland players recorded assists on six of the Terrapins’ seven goals.

Duke placed a high emphasis on faceoffs coming into this week’s matchup, and despite winning 7 of 12 draws, have struggled to maintain possession. Two of the Blue Devils’ four goals came off successful draws, but Duke has struggled to create offense otherwise. Stringing together goals has been one of Duke’s strengths throughout the season, but the Terrapins have been successful in keeping the Blue Devil offense out of its rhythm.

Duke will begin the second half with the man advantage after Maryland committed a one-minute penalty with 1.5 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Pocket Guide to No. 5 Duke vs. Maryland

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1) Can Duke overcome adversity?

It’s no secret that Duke’s embarrassing loss on the road against Big East squad St. John’s came on the one year anniversary of Duke’s embarrassing loss on the road against Big East squad Georgetown. But after last year’s loss, the Blue Devils lost only a single game the rest of the year en-route to the national title. Can this year’s team rebound in a similar fashion?

2) Jordan Williams must be stopped

Maryland’s sophomore center nearly single-handedly willed the Terrapins to victory over Duke earlier this season with a 23 point, 13 rebound performance in Cameron. Williams has evolved into one of the premier big men in the country, although his supporting cast has left something to be desired. Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly have given Duke a renewed presence on the glass, one that will be tested against Williams and a Maryland frontcourt that out-rebounded the Blue Devils in their last meeting.

3) Where’s the third option?

Ever since Kyrie Irving’s injury, Duke’s third option on offense has seemingly been decided by a roll of the dice. In the injury’s aftermath Andre Dawkins stepped up his scoring output, but has recently been in a shooting slump. Ryan Kelly has been hot recently, but inconsistent overall. Seth Curry finally looked like he solved his shooting problems against Boston College, but quickly regressed against St. John’s. Which one of these three can step up in a hostile Comcast Center environment, or will Duke be able to find a new hot hand?

From the BCS to Duke?

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Duke going to its second straight bowl game? Blue Devils fans can dream while the man who expressed interest in coaching at Duke three years ago lives that reality.

Former Hawaii coach and current SMU coach June Jones has spurned Maryland to stay put at the Dallas school, according to the Dallas Morning News (for the record, another Lone Star State coach, Mike Leach, remains in the running to be the head turtle). The most interesting aspect of the article for Duke fans, though, is the fact that Jones was interested in either filling the Duke or SMU position back in 2007.

Both programs at that time were among the worst programs in the football bowl subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A). SMU is the only school to receive the NCAA’s so-called “death penalty” (the Mustangs 1987 football schedule was cancelled) and did not have a winning season over the next 20 years. As most Duke fans know, the Blue Devils have not had a winning season since 1994, a span that has included a 22-game losing streak, and were legally declared the worst team in the country when they backed out of three remaining contests with Louisville in 2007.

Since Jones left Hawaii after leading the Warriors to an undefeated regular season and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia in 2007, SMU has gone from a 1-11 team in his first year to back-to-back bowl appearances. The Mustangs take on Army in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl today at noon in Fort Worth, Texas. In the same time, Duke has had three more losing seasons under David Cutcliffe with a combined 12-24 record.

When asked why Jones would have been interested in the Duke job, Brad Sutton, SMU’s associate athletic director, emailed  this excerpt from an ESPN story that was written in May 2008:

“When he decided to look around for a job, the two open positions that most intrigued him had defined bad football for a generation. In addition to SMU, Jones wanted to look into Duke, which has lost 25 consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference games.

If you go to a school that is used to winning, Jones said, “I would have people saying ‘Wow, so-and-so didn’t do it that way.’ If you took one of those jobs and came up with a totally new approach, offensively and the way we teach is probably not going to be received quite as well…””

How would Jones’s aerial assault have worked against ACC opponents? Well, if Maryland hires a certain pirate, we may get an answer.

Toliver’s Biggest Shot Comes In Press Conference

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Photo by Courtney Douglas/The Chronicle

The script unfolded just as it has in years past, with Maryland trailing Duke and the ball finding its way into Kristi Toliver’s hands.

Except this time, the Terrapin point guard saw her 3-pointer rim out, giving the Blue Devils a two-point advantage and the ball with under 10 seconds left.

Nevertheless, Toliver didn’t seem too worried about her inability to convert in the clutch Monday, given her history of hitting big shots against the Blue Devils in both the 2006 national championship and the teams’ 2008 meeting in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“I guess it’s a little too early in the season to break the Dukies’ hearts,” she said with a smirk.

Duke plays the Terps again Feb. 22 in College Park, Md.Will that be the right time to break the Blue Devils’ hearts?