Duke routs Terps

DURHAM — The latest installment of the Duke-Maryland rivalry might not be been riveting enough to become an ESPN Instant Classic.

There were no last-minute scoring binges, no last-second halfcourt heaves and no 22-point comebacks.

Duke found a way to win on Thursday night that lacks in cinematic value:with solid defense down the stretch.

And that’s just fine with the Blue Devils.

Maryland trailed Duke by only three points with 10:28 left to play, but the top-ranked Blue Devils limited the third-ranked Terps to two field goals the rest of the way in a 99-78 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Maryland had won the last two games against Duke in Cameron, but the Blue Devils have now taken five of the last six in the series.

“We wanted to beat Maryland,” said Duke junior Mike Dunleavy, who had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven steals. “The juniors, sophomores and freshmen had never beat Maryland here. It was a big thing for us. But right now it’s just another ACC win.”

Dunleavy, along with Jason Williams, led the way for the Blue Devils (15-1, 4-1 in the ACC) in the second half, when Maryland (13-3, 3-1) self-destructed offensively.

Dunleavy scored 19 of his points after halftime, while Williams hit five of his first six shots after intermission and finished with a game-high 34 points.

Williams, who also had eight assists and seven boards, got off to a good start with 13 points in the first 10 minutes.

Williams and Dunleavy combined for 24 of Duke’s first 32 points of the second half.

“A lot of kids put up numbers in other games, but (Williams) put them up in a great game,”Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It takes a great player to do that.”

Said Dunleavy, “He was really focused tonight, you could tell. This was right up there with his best.”

The Terps, who led 49-48 at the half, hung tough, though, and trailed only 73-70 after a basket by Chris Wilcox.

Duke called timeout after the play, then outscored Maryland 26-8 to end the game.

The Terps didn’t hit a shot from the floor in the final seven minutes and shot 35.7 percent in the second half.

“We came out of the timeout, and we said, ‘If we score here, we need a defensive stop, and this is our game,’ ”said Duke guard Chris Duhon, who had six points and four assists.“We got the score, and we played great defense the rest of the time.”

The Blue Devils did an especially effective job on Maryland’s Juan Dixon, who had torched Duke in recent games.

Dixon, who was chased around by Dahntay Jones for most of the game, attempted only one shot after halftime and finished with 10 points.

Dixon had scored a combined 59 points in the Terrapins’ last two games at Cameron.

“Juan, for all the kids that don’t play for Duke, he’s my favorite,”Krzyzewski said. “I admire him immensely. He’s a winner. He missed some shots, but he could go for 40 against us next time.”

While Dixon struggled, Lonny Baxter succeeded down low before fouling out with 3:46 left.

Baxter scored 24 points to lead the Terps, while Wilcox had 14 of his own.

Duke got a boost from its inside player, Carlos Boozer, in the form of a 20-point outing.

Neither team could do much wrong to open the game, when the two squads combined for 11 lead changes in the first 4:15.

Duke led by as many as eight points in the first half before Maryland roared back to take a 36-35 lead with 6:16 left before the break.

By the end of the first 20 minutes, the lead had swapped hands a remarkable 25 times, and there had been seven ties.

“It was going back and forth,”Duhon said. “Maryland’s a great team, we expected it. They would make big shots, then we would come back and make big shots.”

That ended for the Terps in in the final 10 minutes, which resulted in a rare anticlimactic finish.

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NOTES:Maryland reserve guard Drew Nicholas played well in spite of Dixon’s struggles. He had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. ... Former Senator Jesse Helms was in attendance, seated in the first row of the upper deck. ... A Duke student covered in body paint filed into the Maryland layup line at halftime before Tahj Holden quickly removed him with a slight shove. ... Duke had a season-low nine turnovers and forced 21.

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com .