The Maryland Terrapins stared into the abyss (as Ravens coach Brian Billick had suggested they do midseason) Saturday night, and they saw a familiar face staring back at them: Duke. This time was to be different though. And from the first basket, a Terence Morris three from straight away, you could sense it. The Blue Devils appeared different as well. Early on, Duke looked as if the noxious and nauseating smell of burning plastic that filled the Metrodome (was the right-field baggie burning or what?) was affecting their motor skills. Carlos Boozer was missing bunnies, Jason Williams was out of sorts, and wasn't that player of the year Shane Battier traveling and air-balling a three?

Meanwhile, the Turtle looked invincible. Steve Blake was swishin' and dishin', Juan Dixon was knocking down treys, and Lonnie Baxter picked up where he left off last week. But it wasn't just the stars. There was Mike Mardesich and Tahj Holden scoring down low. Here was Danny Miller flipping in a reverse layup. When Drew Nicholas missed a free throw and Byron Mouton was there for the putback, Maryland led by 19. Moments later it was 22.

And then, as Dixon was to say later, "It just shifted." My tarot card reading for the Terps had predicted an "unforeseen catastrophe", but there was nothing unforeseen about the ability of Maryland's opponent. Duke lives by rattling off points. It was just a question of how much of a run they had in them. As it turned out, the Blue Devils, helped by some poor officiating, had one big run left, like 77-42 over the last 26 minutes of play.

If you're a Maryland fan or a Duke hater, what could be worse? In their first Final Four game ever, the Terps outrebounded Duke by 16 and held the Blue Devils to just 7-for-27 from three. They clearly demonstrated that they were deeper and just as talented as their rivals, and still for the third time in four games, the Turtle came up short.

Afterwards, as a smiling Battier and Williams sped to the interview room on a golf cart, the Maryland players sat in their locker room pondering their fate in the abyss. "We have a lot of pride in ourselves," said Holden of the bench play. "It's not Juan's team or Lonny's team or Terence's team. It's our team." Others, looking back at a season of pronounced peaks and troughs, tried to put a positive spin on the outcome. "We did a great job of staying together against all odds," said Mouton. In the corner, sat the senior Mardesich, a potential talent who had become a role player in his final two seasons. "At least you ended your career where you wanted," one sports hack offered. Mardesich sniffed. His eyes were watering. "Yeah," he said staring straight ahead.

John Gustafson is covering the Final Four for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at john.gustafson@espnmag.com.