Duke-Maryland Preview: Terps Look For Revenge

Duke and Maryland renew their rivalry Wednesday with the Terrapins looking for another win to bolster their NCAA Tournament hopes. 

Maryland is coming off an overtime win against UNC, while Duke defeated Wake Forest Sunday scoring a season-high 101 points in the victory. 

Records:

Duke 22-5, 8-4, 3-4 (away), RPI No. 3
Maryland 17-9, 6-6, 14-2 (home), RPI No. 54

Series:

Duke and Maryland have split the last 10 games, 5-5
Duke is 3-2 in the last 5 at Maryland

Last Meeting:

Duke dominated Maryland in Durham winning 85-44. The Blue Devils were up 40-15 at halftime with 10 different players scoring in the victory. The Terps shot just 28 percent from the floor and were out rebounded 56 to 38. Maryland turned the ball over 17 times and got only four points from leader Greivis Vasquez. If you looked up domination in the dictionary, a picture of this games is next to it.

What Duke Must Do To Win:

The Blue Devils need to do what has gotten them to the top of the ACC over the years: get to the free throw line, hit threes, play aggressive defense. Duke was able to bounce back against Wake Forest on Sunday by accomplishing all of these. The Devils need to devote much of their defensive focus to Vasquez, who is the heart and soul of this Maryland team. 

What Maryland Must Do To Win:

The Terps have to shoot the ball well. They average just under 42 percent on the season and were awful last time against Duke. Maryland cannot allow 25 offensive rebounds again like Carolina got on Saturday. Finally, Vasquez needs to atone for his performance at Cameron in January. If he plays close to what he did on Saturday, Maryland has a good chance to pull of this upset.

Prediction:

These teams are very different than they were in their meeting a month ago. At that point Duke seemed invincible, but we know now they are beatable. Duke's best conference road wins were against Georgia Tech and FSU—when the 'Noles were an inconsistent team. I like Maryland at home to even the season series behind a another big game by Vasquez.

Maryland wins by 1-6 points

Season: 19-16 SU through 2/22

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