Going to be the toughest road environment of the year (per Coach K). That's saying something given they've played at Wisconsin and Georgetown.

Duke has rebounded to go to 5-2 on the road in conference, after starting 0-2. Maryland is playing for a share of the ACC regular season title.

Vasquez netted 41 against the Hokies on Saturday, and Cliff Tucker and Will Hayes have turned their game up as well. Should be a great ballgame.

Prediction: Maryland 84 Duke 76

For all Duke fans out there

Maryland by 10

There was a decent period of time where I would rather lose to Carolina then to Maryland. Many ride Coach K about his sideline behavior....IMO no one is worse than Gary Williams. He is a good coach...but is far and away the worst on the sideline to emulate.

Duke will take this game. Not by a big margin, but this year Duke has the horses. The Blue Devils ability to come up with more difficult rebounds than its opponent will be the factor tonight. Then again, Duke might lose.

One of my best friends is in Comcast tonight. Jealous as hell. Wish I could be there. I asked him what the atmosphere was like. He told me that if I put together the loudest crowds I've ever heard during my years following tournament basketball at Anderson Arena into one sound, it'd be like using headphones to listen to a marshmallow sit in a room compared to what he's hearing. Should be exciting tonight.

Haha Scheyer just got trucked.

Maryland has blown their chance. They let Duke back in the game when they could have applied an early knockout punch. They're in trouble now.

How in the hell did Vasquez make that shot?

WOW.

I bet he got a pat on the back from rec for that one.

And so much for Duke being the final number 1.

Didn't see any of this except the last minute or so, but looks like it was a typical Duke/Maryland game.

I don't know about flooding the court.

Good game though.

Shulman might run out there and hug Vazquez, too

Scheyer wishes he was as good as Vasquez.

Great game to watch! As soon as Vasquez threw up that shot I figured Duke would get the rebound and then hold for the last shot, then the fucking thing went in Maryland made the plays down the stretch, congrats to them. Still think Duke has the horses this year to make a very deep run in the NCAA's. Vasquez will win ACC POY just on that shot

And so much for Duke being the final number 1.

I don't think they are out of the conversation. They lost a road game to a pretty good team with a really nice college player. This means the conference tournaments might have bigger impact on the final seeding.

K-State also lost, if Duke wins the ACCT they can still get it

reclegend22 wrote: Duke will take this game. Not by a big margin, but this year Duke has the horses. The Blue Devils ability to come up with more difficult rebounds than its opponent will be the factor tonight. Then again, Duke might lose.

One of my best friends is in Comcast tonight. Jealous as hell. Wish I could be there. I asked him what the atmosphere was like. He told me that if I put together the loudest crowds I've ever heard during my years following tournament basketball at Anderson Arena into one sound, it'd be like using headphones to listen to a marshmallow sit in a room compared to what he's hearing. Should be exciting tonight.

Hoow did that work out for ya?

mattinctown wrote: K-State also lost, if Duke wins the ACCT they can still get it

Yep. Depending on how some of the other contenders do in their conference tournaments, Duke could end up with a #1 seed even without winning the ACCT. Tonight's loss, as prescott said, is definitely not a bad loss by any means.

mattinctown wrote: K-State also lost, if Duke wins the ACCT they can still get it

Yeah I didn't see that. I was at work all night.

september63 wrote:

reclegend22 wrote: Duke will take this game. Not by a big margin, but this year Duke has the horses. The Blue Devils ability to come up with more difficult rebounds than its opponent will be the factor tonight. Then again, Duke might lose.

One of my best friends is in Comcast tonight. Jealous as hell. Wish I could be there. I asked him what the atmosphere was like. He told me that if I put together the loudest crowds I've ever heard during my years following tournament basketball at Anderson Arena into one sound, it'd be like using headphones to listen to a marshmallow sit in a room compared to what he's hearing. Should be exciting tonight.

Hoow did that work out for ya?

Are you going to contribute anything to this thread other than that and the "Scheyer wishes he was as good as Vasquez" comment?:s

That big dude for Maryland played a tough game. 15 points and 10 rebounds

He averages 9 and 8.

Only a freshman, but he needs to bring that same energy consistently.

This loss does put more teams into the equation. Possibilities other than Duke include OSU,Purdue,MSU, WVY,Nova. and maybe Vandy.

I think with a Big Ten Tourny win, OSU will be the 4th number 1.

Steve Lavin on ESPN agreed Cats. If OSU runs the Big Ten Tourney they get the 4th #1 seed.

Really the main reason I say that is because Duke will have lost most recently. Even if Duke runs through the ACCT(I think they will), they will have had the most recent loss. And regardless of what anyone says, the committee looks at that.

As I said, Duke might lose. And they did. It was tough to stomach after such a hardworking comeback, but Maryland is a really good team when playing well. Tonight, they were playing well. But Duke did what I thought it would to put itself in position to win the game: rebound and work for second chance points. Not enough shots fell, though.

Vasquez is one of my favorite players in the last decade in the ACC. I love his emotion and love for the game. Obviously I wish tonight's outcome would have been different, but he was clutch down the stretch. As he always is. Scheyer's the better overall player, but I wouldn't be angry if Vasquez won POY. He's earned it.

Great game for Brian Zoubek tonight. He continues to bust his ass inside. God bless him.

If Duke runs the table and wins the ACC, its nine wins versus the top 50 (could increase in the ACC tourney), top SOS nationally and #2 RPI will be enough to get the fourth one.