Maryland pulls off the biggest upset this week by taking down Goliath ( Duke) in dramatic fashion to keep there NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
Leading up to the week the Maryland Terrapins were heavily underdogs against their matchup against the Duke Blue Devils. Well they proved a lot of people wrong by playing strong from start to finish. They came out victorious by winning the matchup by two points with the final score being 83-81. Duke coming into this game was playing on fumes that played there fourth game in ten days which is a lot of traveling and preparation. It can take a toll on a team especially in the collegiate level but that doesn’t excuse for the way they played. They were being outplayed at all phases of the game. Star player Mason Plumlee must have had his worst game of his career by only contributing 4 points. That is unheard of because he usually averages a double double each game. Duke wasn’t rebounding the ball they got outrebounded on the boards by the total of 40 to 20. To me the Blue Devils showed once again why they shouldn’t be considered a top 10 in the country. They have a great a coach in Mike Krzyzweski and he shouldn’t be satisfied with how they played because they are supposed to be one of the best teams in the league. Seth Curry and Quinn Cook carried the load by combining for 43 of the Blue Devils points. The first half featured two ties, 10 lead changes and ended with the Terrapins up 35-34. Curry (14 points) was one of only four Duke Players to score before halftime.
Give Maryland credit they played a hard game in being scrappy for the loose balls and tight defense. The freshman and sophomore class for Maryland lead the way which helped the other players play with confidence, and relaxation. They had contribution from everyone leading the way for them was sophomore center Alex Len the big man played incredible who I believe had one of his best games in his early career. Maryland Coach Mike Turgeon told Len that he wanted him to play tonight’s game as if Plumlee thought of him as his younger brother. If that’s what he told him he definitely took that to heart and played incredibly hard and made it personal.
Maryland had lost 12 out 13 previous matchups against Duke. Maryland had last won against Duke in 2010 in their home arena. I think coach Turgeon said it best after the victory when he quoted by saying “This win was for my family and the fans. I know what this win means for our fan base, and I really wanted to beat Duke. This shows me that coach Turgeon is very committed in changing the attitude and look of Maryland basketball. They had an equal balance on the offensive end of the game. With the help they had the other leader in scoring was Seth Allen who had a total of 19 points in the game. He was person who broke the tie by making two free throws with just 2.8 seconds left. What wasn’t so bright in the win was they had 26 turnovers which are unheard of in being able to win this type of game against this type of team. The crowd increased its volume with every subsequent basket by the Terrapins. Maryland’s pervious win against Duke came in 2010 when Greivis Vasquez celebrated Senior Night with a 20-point performance.
I really hope that whoever is part of the voting for the Top 25 really sees the true colors of how good Duke really is. Enough is enough the voters really need to stop playing favorites. Teams are beating Duke with hard play and it shows that Duke starts to fold under pressure. This Duke team shouldn’t be considered for a number 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. There are other top 10 teams that can be put as a number 1 seed in place of them. I think these voters are biased and not loyal in voting. I think it is difficult in trying to trust these people because they only want to give the schools that bring in the money top seeds because they are winning and the attraction they bring. Also I don’t know how Indiana like Duke is still in the top 3 seeds. I think Indiana on Tuesday is going to be really tested and be exposed when they go play Michigan State at the Spartans stadium. I hope the rankings aren’t the same as the way they have been I hope there is a change and won’t be as aggravated as I usually am. Being a huge fan of college basketball things need to be changed and be looked in a whole different way in selecting the top 25. Congratulations, again to the Maryland Terrapins on a huge win use this as momentum for the rest of the season and keep playing stronger.
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