WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke crushes Maryland, 85-44

By Jake Lloyd

Jan 24, 2009

Durham, N.C. — Many things have happened this season that indicate this Duke team is different from the last two teams that started out strong before fading at the end of the season.

But nothing like Saturday's 85-44 pounding of Maryland inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

A year ago, playing against the Terrapins' trees Bambale Osby and James Gist, the Blue Devils won both of the teams' meetings — but not because they controlled the paint or even came close to having an advantage down low.

On Saturday, however, the second-ranked Blue Devils owned the Osby- and Gist-less Terrapins in the lane, outrebounding the Terps 56-38 and basically getting any ball that was up for grabs. While Maryland was undersized, the game was also a sign that the Devils' frontline isn't nearly as weak as in recent seasons.

"They do start a smaller lineup, so I think a big thing was trying to go to the offense boards," said Jon Scheyer, who was one of six Devils with at least five rebounds. "If you shot the ball, a big thing was, 'If you miss, we're gong to get the ball and attack and shoot again.'"

Gerald Henderson led Duke (18-1, 5-0 ACC) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Scheyer added 12 points and five boards, and Kyle Singler chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Thanks to 21 offensive rebounds, the Devils took 73 shots — making a pedestrian 31 (42.5 percent) — and scored 18 second-chance points. They were in the paint all afternoon, even well after the game was decided and Mike Krzyzewski had emptied his bench.

The man who personified Duke's big day down low was a big man, 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek. The Devils' starting center only played in the second Duke-Maryland game a year ago and didn't log a single statistic in 4 minutes.

But towering over the Terrapins (13-6, 2-3) Saturday, Zoubek played aggressively but under control, grabbing rebounds, tipping out loose balls he couldn't corral and cleaning up his teammates' misses.

Zoubek made his presence felt on the game's first possession, strongly backing down his man and banking in a jump hook, and he finished with nine points, nine rebounds — including seven on the offensive end — and a career high-tying four blocks.

"Getting the ball inside was a mission (of ours)," Singler said. "We wanted to get Brian the ball, we wanted to get him involved in the game, but more of the emphasis was rebounding the ball."

That wasn't a surprise, considering the Devils were outrebounded by N.C. State in their last game by a sizable 36-25 margin. In Duke's 73-56 win, the Wolfpack's low-post players often had their way, getting to the basket and cleaning up their own misses.

When asked whether rebounding had gotten a lot of attention in practice the past couple of days, Zoubek said, "Just a little bit."

Duke's dominance on the boards was epitomized by one possession during the Devils' first-half run that pushed a 13-7 advantage to 40-15 at halftime. Scheyer badly missed a 3-pointer, but Lance Thomas grabbed the rebound only to blow his layup attempt. Zoubek, however, got his hand on the ball for a putback attempt. Only that was off the mark as well.

But Zoubek didn't give up, getting the ball once again and finally drawing a foul. Duke, simply, was relentless when it came to getting loose balls. Maryland didn't have the bodies or desire to stop the Devils.

"I think we're a lot better than we were last year," Scheyer said of Duke's rebounding. "Everyone's a little bit bigger, everybody's a year older. Like Brian: We didn't really have him last year for most of the time. So having a guy like him changes your team."

Zoubek was just as effective on the defensive end as he was garnering offensive boards. When the Terps tried to get to the basket, he was there to stuff their shots — Duke swatted a season-high 12 field-goal attempts — and Maryland was forced to initiate most of its offense on the perimeter.

That's where the Devils' pressure defense is at its best, and it flustered Maryland leading scorer Greivis Vasquez all day. The point guard entered the contest averaging a team-high 17 points per game but managed just four points on 2-of-10 shooting and was visibly frustrated.

Vasquez's day culminated in an intentional foul well after Duke had extended its halftime lead past 40 points. Landon Milbourne was the only Terrapin who had a good day offensively, scoring 19 points.

"They did some really good things defensively, switching and taking us out of our offense," Maryland coach Gary Williams said of his team's dismal offensive performance (28.1-percent shooting). "But we had some counters that we were supposed to look at, which we didn't do."

Duke has held all five of its ACC opponents under 60 points and leads the league in points-per-game defense and field-goal-percentage defense. Against the Terrapins, the Devils showed their defensive versatility with a handful of players guarding Vasquez in the game's opening minutes.

And with no Gist or Osby to worry about down low — Maryland's biggest offensive threat was 6-7, 263-pound Dave Neal, who prefers 3-pointers and never gets far off the ground — Duke extended its pressure defense, got hands in passing lanes and caused 17 turnovers that translated into 12 points.

"Between Kyle and the three perimeter guys, who can really guard the perimeter well, and with Zoubek protecting the inside well and all of us rebounding — that is what makes our defense complete," Scheyer said.

And now, thanks to a complete effort against the Terps, the Devils can expect to take a No. 1 national ranking to Winston-Salem Wednesday for their showdown with Wake Forest (16-1, 3-1).

It should be a new feeling for many of the Devils, considering Duke hasn't held the top ranking since the 2005-06 season.

"It'll be a big deal for our guys and it's a big deal for us, because it means we're playing really well, " Krzyzewski said. "It's an honor and it says that you're playing real well."

On Saturday inside Cameron, nobody could argue otherwise.