DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Blue Devils rebounded nicely after a blowout loss at Miami by taking out Maryland 84-64 on Saturday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils committed just four turnovers in the game — none in the second half — as Duke outscored the Terps 41-29 to pull away, and in the process improve to 17-4 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils were led in scoring by Rasheed Sulaimon, who lit Maryland up with a career-high 25 points, going 6 of 8 from beyond the three-point line. His six three pointers tied the all-time Duke record for made three-pointers by a freshman, and it was the second straight game in which he led the team in first half scoring.
All-ACC candidate Mason Plumlee added 19 points, with 15 of them coming in the second half; he finished the game an efficient 9 of 12 from the floor, and he also grabbed 7 rebounds and handed out three assists. Plumlee has scored in double figures in all but one of the Blue Devils games this season.
Freshman Amile Jefferson continued to show improvement as well. His play was one reason cited by Coach Krzyzewski in his assessment that this team was finding its identity without Ryan Kelly. Jefferson scored 11 points while leading Duke in rebounding with 9 caroms, but perhaps most impressive were his three timely second half blocked shots which helped squelch any hopes the Terps had of making a run.
“He’s getting stronger. We’re not exactly going to see who he is this year exactly, but given the opportunity to play, Amile will develop faster,” said Krzyzewski. He went on to say, “ He’s a good player. He’s going to be a really good player.”
Check out Coach K’s press conference comments below, and check back for more post-game videos shortly.
