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Tuesday, March 27
First three matchups were keepers
Associated Press
This Final Four will give us Duke-Maryland IV.
Duke and Maryland will show up in Minneapolis this week with resumes that include three previous meetings, two of which claimed instant classic status.
"The game we had in Atlanta was truly one of the remarkable games played this year," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said of his top-ranked Blue Devils' 84-82 victory in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. "I thought the brotherhood and camaraderie that was displayed between the coaches and teams after that game was amazing. I think some of the kids even said to
each other 'We'll see you at the Final Four,' because I think they
know we're good and we know they're good."
Those prescient players won't need detailed scouting reports, they've already gone against each other for 125 minutes this season. Each team won on the other's home court in the regular season and Duke won the conference tournament game, giving the much younger Blue Devils the 2-1 lead.
Game 4 will be hard-pressed to match the first three meetings this season, but it's a pretty safe bet the game will be better than last season's intraconference national semifinal when Michigan State beat Wisconsin 53-41 in an all-Big Ten matchup.
The defending champion Spartans, by the way, are back, and will
play Arizona in the other semifinal next weekend.
The first Duke-Maryland game was a meeting of Top 10 teams and things were going the eighth-ranked Terrapins way for 39 minutes. They led the second-ranked Blue Devils 90-80 with a minute to play, and the sellout crowd of 14,500 at Cole Field House was ready to explode as Duke's three-game winning streak in their building was about to end.
But Jason Williams scored eight points, including two 3-pointers, in a 14-second span, and Duke was able to force overtime.
Shane Battier, Duke's other All-American, scored six points in the extra session and then blocked Maryland's final shot to preserve the 98-96 victory.
Maryland didn't recover from the shocking loss for a while and
it seemed the season was on the verge of collapsing. The Terrapins
lost five of their next six and saw their ranking fall to No. 20.
"I didn't know what to expect when we went through the tough
times," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "Watching these
players react to that situation impressed me because they could
have gone in a different direction, but they actually got closer
when things got tough."
The turn was completed when the Terrapins went into Cameron
Indoor Stadium and won for the second straight year. Maryland took
the lead for good with six minutes left when Juan Dixon's floater
in the lane made it 70-69 and the Terrapins pulled away to a 91-80
victory.
"When we walked off the court that night we knew if we could do
it there we could do it anywhere," Williams said.
Duke starting center Carlos Boozer broke a bone in his foot in
that game and the Blue Devils went to a smaller, quicker lineup
that hasn't lost in eight games since, including two wins over
North Carolina, the four in the NCAA tournament and the ACC
tournament run.
In the semifinals, Duke beat Maryland on Nate James' tip-in with
1.3 seconds left. Maryland's Steve Blake had tied the game 82-82
with a 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds left as the Terrapins overcame a
14-point deficit in the second half.
Neither team has lost since that game. Duke is in the Final Four
for the 13th time, and ninth under Krzyzewski. Maryland is in the
Final Four for the first time in school history and Williams
finally got there in his 23rd season as a head coach.
"You start thinking, 'When's is it going to be your turn,'" he said.
It's Saturday, against a team that is 6-2 in national semifinals
under Krzyzewski.
"The Final Four has four champions, four regional champions," Krzyzewski said. "That is what makes it an amazing event. Each of
those kids should think of themselves as champions. That aspect
elevates the Final Four to the highest level." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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Gary Williams discusses Maryland's game plan against Duke.