By Laura Keeley
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
(MCT)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. _ The Duke Blue Devils were exhausted, Mike Krzyzewski said, from their “Murder’s Row” of a schedule in the past week. Uneven performances against Boston College and UNC didn’t result in losses. And, after a particularly uneven performance at Maryland, Duke still had a chance to win in the final minute.
But one final defensive lapse did in second-ranked Duke, as Maryland’s Seth Allen sealed the 83-81 win with two free throws on Saturday.
As the crowd poured onto the Comcast center floor, Duke’s Todd Zafirovski grabbed Cook, who had fouled Allen, and shielded him from the oncoming rush, as the two walked off the floor together.
Afterward, Cook sat in the Duke locker room, staring at the ground, as he tried to explain how Allen had gotten by him on that final drive, forcing him to foul.
“Just get a stop,” Cook said when asked what the plan was. “Just get a stop.”
Allen’s free throws with two seconds remaining in the game came after a Duke freshman, Rasheed Sulaimon, hit three big free throws of his own to tie it at 81-81.
Jake Layman, who has missed one of his two attempts on the other end, fouled Sulaimon on a 3-point shot. With Duke trailing 81-78, Sulaimon went to the line with a chance to tie. After he made the first two, Maryland called a timeout. In the huddle, he assured his teammates that he would make the final shot.
And he did.
Duke never led in the second half, as Maryland shot 66.7 percent in the final 20 minutes. For the game, the Terrapins shot 60 percent from the field, making a comeback difficult at best.
The Blue Devils were down 80-72 with under two minutes left on the clock, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Seth Curry gave Duke a chance at the end. Curry finished with a game-high 25 points.
Duke’s other senior captain, Mason Plumlee, struggled all night, He fouled out late in the game with four points on 2-of-7 shooting. He had three rebounds – total – and two turnovers.
“I thought he looked exhausted all night,” Krzyzewski said of Plumlee, adding that the weight of carrying the team every night is tough to bear.
The No. 2 Blue Devils (22-3, 9-3 in the ACC) are now three games behind first-place Miami in the conference race.
After trailing 35-34 at halftime Duke had multiple opportunities to take the lead in the second half but couldn’t get a defensive stop.
The Terrapins, who shot 55.6 percent in the first half, didn’t cool off after the break, as a quick start forced an early Duke timeout. That didn’t break up Maryland’s rhythm, as they used a 12-4 run to take a 10-point lead at 53-43.
It took less than a minute, though, for Duke to respond with a 7-0 as the Blue Devils took advantage of three Maryland turnovers in that span. With the score 53-50, Aeth Allen found an opening in the defense to make it 55-50 Maryland. A Quinn Cook 3 made it a two-point game, but Dez Wells sliced through the defense for a lay-up.
Duke closed the gap again to one possession a few minutes later, as Alex Murphy atoned for a pass thrown out of bounds with a steal and a dunk to cut Maryland’s lead to 59-57 with about 8:30 left on the clock.
The fourth time Duke pulled to within one score came on a Sulaimon lay-up to cut it to 66-63. Just as before, though, the defense couldn’t get a stop, as Seth Allen drove the baseline and Dez Wells finished a steal with a two-handed throw down to give Maryland a 70-63 lead.
While the Blue Devils were attempting to make their comeback, they faltered at the line, going 6-for-11 at one point in the second half.
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DUKE, MARYLAND