Longtime ACC Rivals Clash in Durham: Maryland at Duke

Maryland Terrapins at Duke Blue Devils, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC
Sunday, January 9, 2011, 8:00 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports Net
Opening Line: Duke -15
Current Line: Duke -14 1/2
Opening Total: 151 1/2
Current Total: 153
Money Line: Duke -1400 / Maryland +900

Kyle Singler and Duke take on rival Maryland in ACC action Sunday Night. The Blue Devils are 14 1/2 point favorites at home.

Maryland is 10-4 on the season and 0-1 in the ACC to start the season. Maryland has losses to Pitt, Illinois, Temple and Boston College. The Terps have quality wins over College of Charleston and Penn St. Since losing to Boston College, Maryland has won 3 straight over inferior opponents, NJIT, North Florida, and Colgate. Maryland’s four losses are by a total of 20 points to four teams that will make the NCAA Tournament. Duke is 14-0 over all and 1-0 in ACC play. and ranked #1 in both polls, just where they ended last season and started this season. Duke has quality wins over Princeton, Marquette, Kansas St, Oregon, Butler, Michigan St, and Miami-FL on the season. Duke has won 24 straight dating back to last year. Maryland gave Duke their last loss in March of last season. Duke leads the overall series 107-61 and are 50-14 at Cameron versus Maryland. The Blue Devils have won 7 of the last 9 against Maryland. Duke has won 28 straight home games. Duke is 31-20 ATS in all games the last 2 seasons. They were favorites in everyone of those games. Maryland is 9-2 ATS in road games the last two seasons and 13-5 ATS in conference in the same span.

Maryland is playing a brutal stretch of three road games in a week at Duke, Wake Forest, and Villanova. The Terps are healthy and have no significant injuries. Maryland is outscoring opponents 81-62 on the season. The Terrapins shoot 49.7% from the field and 34.8% from 3-point range. Maryland is holding opponents to 36.7% shooting from the field. Maryland converts 64.8% of their free throws. The Terps pull down 41.8 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +8.1. They average 17.4 assists and 14.6 turnovers a game. Maryland forces 17.1 turnovers a game on defense. The Terps average 7.3 steals and 6.2 blocks a game. Sophomore forward Jordan Williams leads the team in scoring with 17.6 points, rebounds with 11.8 a game and blocks with 1.3 a game. He has 8 straight double doubles. Guard/forward Cliff Tucker averages 11.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals a game. Freshman guard Terrell Stoglin averages 11 points, and 2.3 assists a game. Adrian Bowie leads the team in assists with 4 a game and scores 9.3 points a game. Sean Mosley leads the team in steals with 1.3 a game.

Duke has been playing the last 6 games without guard Kyrie Irving who is out indefinitely with a toe injury. It hasn’t affected them too much because of their depth. Duke is outscoring opponents 89-63 on the season. Duke has beaten every opponent by double digits except for Michigan St. The Blue Devils only won that game by5 points 84-79. Duke is shooting 50.4% from the field and 43.6% from 3-point range. Blue Devil opponents are shooting 39.9% from the field. The Blue Devils make 75.3% of their free throws. Duke averages 37.5 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +3. Duke averages 17.7 assists and 12.1 turnovers a game. They force 16.9 turnovers a game on defense. Duke averages 4.8 blocks and 9.1 steals a game. Four blue devils average in double figure scoring but one of those is Irving. Senior guard Nolan Smith leads the team in scoring with 19.6 points, and assists with 5.6 a game. He also averages 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals a game. Forward Kyle Singler averages 17.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and leads the team in steals with 1.4 a game. Sophomore guard Andre Dawkins averages 11.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals a game. Sophomore forward Mason Plumlee leads the team in rebounds with 7.7 a game and blocks with 1.6 a game.

If Duke has one weakness it is rebounding. They are 80th in the country in rebounding. Duke is superior to Maryland in every other aspect of the game. They are looking to avenge their last loss to Maryland. I think maryland can hang around for a while but Duke will pull away late.