WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke holds off Maryland, wins 67-61

By Jake Lloyd

Mar 14, 2009

Atlanta — All Nolan Smith needed was one practice. One very good practice, according to teammate Jon Scheyer.

“We have this thing, efficiency points, where for our practice it’s pretty much all the stats and pretty much judged by how well of a practice you have,” Scheyer said. “So for us, he led our team the first day back.

“And that’s when I knew it was nice to have him back.”

The practice happened in the middle of the week. Then Smith played his first game on Friday since suffering a minor concussion Feb. 25 at Maryland.

And on Saturday, Smith was a big factor in Duke’s 67-61 ACC Tournament semifinal victory over those same Terrapins (20-13). The ninth-ranked Blue Devils (27-6) will play No. 22 Florida State for the championship Sunday at 1 p.m.

“It feels great,” Smith said. “It feels like my legs are coming back to me, my comfort of playing with the guys and being in a game situation and just feeling comfortable out there.

“After yesterday, I felt good. Today I feel even better.”

And thanks in part to Smith, the Blue Devils are feeling good as they look for their first ACC title since 2006.

Smith led a strong effort by Duke’s bench with 10 points, three assists and two steals in 30 minutes. David McClure was also a big factor, making all three of his field goals — all big ones in the second half — and grabbing three rebounds.

McClure also had a block, a steal and several hustle plays in his 23 minutes of action. And Greg Paulus contributed a 3-pointer in 7 minutes.

It was a big difference from last Sunday, when Duke’s bench played just 19 minutes and didn’t score in a 79-71 loss to North Carolina.

“From game to game it can vary whoever steps up,” Scheyer said. “I think the one thing coach always says is, ‘You never know when your time is going to come, when you’re going to be called on.’

“So I think our bench did a really good job of being ready to play and they were able to make some huge plays for us today.”

And their contributions were needed, because second-leading scorer Gerald Henderson (16.6 ppg) had one of his worst offensive games. The junior forward was 3-of-14 from the floor and scored eight points — the first time since Dec. 2 that he didn’t score in double figures.

Scheyer led the Blue Devils with 22 points, but leading scorer Kyle Singler (16.8 ppg) also struggled. He shot just 3-for-12 and scored 14 points, although he did have 11 rebounds.

So a night after Duke’s three leading scorers carried them, others had to step up to hold off a feisty Maryland squad that didn’t play well but hung around the entire game.

Duke led 44-41 midway through the second half and was having fits trying to score against Maryland’s 3-2 zone. That’s when Smith took the offense’s reins, feeding Henderson and Scheyer for wide-open 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for a 50-43 lead.

“For Nolan to do what he did today took a lot of guts,” Scheyer said. “And he really made some huge plays for us.”

It was a long time coming for Smith, who didn’t expect to miss two weeks of action when he was diagnosed with the minor concussion. He said that less than a week after the collision, he was feeling good and hopped on a bike to exercise.

But his head started aching once he began pedaling, and the recovery process slowed.

“Headaches and dizziness came after riding the bike,” Smith said. “Doctors knew I wasn’t ready to get back on the court yet.”

That finally happened this week, when Smith had his one real practice — and excelled, just like that. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that it might take his sophomore point guard some time to get back in shape.

One good practice and 18 minutes against Boston College Friday night did the trick. Smith was able to play big minutes against the Terrapins in place of freshman Elliot Williams, who had an off game.

“That one practice was very important because I knew that practice was going to be the only practice I had before the first ACC (Tournament) game,” Smith said. “I had to go out and be aggressive, and the guys were really looking for me to be assertive.”

With Smith playing well and McClure scoring two huge baskets during Duke’s game-clinching 9-0 run that gave the Blue Devils a commanding 56-43 lead, the team looked complete Saturday.

It wasn’t a well-oiled unit. That can’t be said when a team shoots 36.4 percent (20-of-55). But on Sunday, the Blue Devils will be healthy and riding momentum when they take on the Seminoles.

And everybody will be on board.

“I thought our bench gave us a huge lift,” Krzyzewski said. “Paulus came in and gave us good minutes, and Nolan was really good. I mean, really good. Dave, in the second half, made three huge plays that you could see lifted our team. …

“So our bench was huge in this afternoon’s game.”